
author
1800–1851
Known for turning famous paintings into finely engraved book illustrations, this 19th-century French artist helped bring Europe’s great art collections to a wider public. His work sits at the crossroads of drawing, printmaking, and art publishing.

by Etienne Achille Réveil
A French draughtsman, engraver, and illustrator born in Paris in 1800, Étienne Achille Réveil is best remembered for ambitious illustrated art books that reproduced major paintings and sculptures for readers who could not see the originals in person. Library and catalog records connect him with projects such as Musée de peinture et de sculpture and other richly illustrated volumes devoted to art and history.
Reference sources also describe him as a student of Gros, Girodet, and Abel de Pujol, and note that he exhibited at the Paris Salon between 1824 and 1831. His career reflects a moment when engraving played a vital role in sharing images across Europe, long before photographic reproduction became common.
There is some uncertainty in the records about his death date: some library and authority files list 1851 or 1851?, while the French Wikipedia article gives a later date. Because of that conflict, it is safest to say that he was active in the first half of the 19th century and left behind a substantial body of illustrated work.