Besnard was a French painter, printmaker and designer. Born to an artistic family, he was precociously talented. In 1866 he entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he studied under Jean François Brémond (1807–68) and Alexandre Cabanel. His Salon début in 1868 and his subsequent entries were well received, and in 1874 he won the Prix de Rome with the Death of Timophanes, Tyrant of Corinth (Paris, Ecole N. Sup. B.-A.). Remaining in Italy for five years, Besnard worked in an academic style influenced by Pietro da Cortona and Michelangelo.

-excerpt from Benezit