Pierre Olivier Joseph Coomans was born in Brussels in 1816. He was the pupil of Van Hasselaere at Ghent, of De Keyser at Antwerp, and of Baron Wappers. He spent several years in Africa, where he traveled with the French army in order to study the country and make sketches. The result of this experience was shown in his paintings of "The Deluge,''"Landscape in the Province of Constantine," "Emigration of Arab Tribes," and others. Coomans first exhibited his work in Paris in 1857. He then went to Italy, where he was influenced by the ancient Roman architecture, as well as the Pompeii and Herculaneum cultures. In 1877, he exhibited at the Paris Salon. Napoleon III purchased his painting entitled, "The Last Days of Happiness in Pompeii." He was...