Jacques-Laurent Agasse

Jacques-Laurent Agasse was a Swiss painter who became known for his fine paintings of animals. Born in Geneva in 1767 into a wealthy family, he studied art and also learned about animal anatomy, which gave his work unusual accuracy. He spent much of his career in England, where he painted horses, exotic creatures, and scenes of country and sporting life.

He is especially remembered for portraits of unusual animals brought to England, including a giraffe presented to the king. His careful, sympathetic eye for animals set him apart, though he never became rich and died in relative obscurity in 1849. Agasse is now appreciated as one of the more sensitive animal painters of his era.