William Adolphe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle, France in 1825. When he was very young, he was sent to school at Pons where he showed his aptness for drawing. When older he was sent to Bordeaux to a business house, but attended art school for a couple of hours each day. He won a prize over all the daily art students and decided to become a painter.

First he went to his uncle, a priest in Saintouge, for instruction and painted portraits of people of that region. He then went to France, entering the studio of Picot and later l'Ecole des Beaux Arts where he made rapid progress. He won the grand prize in 1850, then went to Rome where he proved to be also a good decorative and mural painter. He was criti...