Charles-Joseph Natoire was a French artist who was born in Nimes, France in the year 1700. Natoire first learned how to draw from his father, who worked as a sculptor. At the age of seventeen he went to the capital, Paris, to attend the prestigious art school, the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. He studied in the studio of professor Louis Galloche, the peintre du Roi of the Académie, and then in the atelier of another great artist, François Lemoyne.

In the year 1721 his painting, Sacrifice of Manoah to obtain a son, won the much sought after royal scholarship, known as the Prix du Rome. He arrived in Rome by 1723 where he was to study at the French Academy in Rome. His next triumph came in 1725 when his piece, Moses Returning from Sinai, was awarded first prize in a contest sponsored by the influential Accademia di San Luca. Expulsion of the Money-Changers from the Temple, was completed in 1728, a commission from the wealthy French ambassador to Rome, the Prince de Polignac.

In 1729 Charles Joseph Natoire went back to Paris France, where his reputation as an artist had grown vastly. By 1730 he was accepted into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture and receiving high profile commissions quite regularly. During the next decade he did a great deal of work for the powerful Director of the Bâtiments du Roi. Histories of the Gods, was a nine piece commission to decorate the Château de La Chapelle-Godefroy at Saint-Aubin. He also completed the series the History of Telemachus, and the History of Clovis in this time period.

Decoration of the Chambre de la Reine at Versailles was Natoire's first ever royal commission. His work was very well received, Venus Commanding from Vulcan the Arms of Aeneas earned him full membership in the coveted Royal Academy. Royal commissions began to pour in, in this period Natoire worked on the Cabinet du Roi, The Château de Marly, the Château de Fontainebleau, and the vast Versailles dining halls just to name a few.

In 1735 Natoire began to experiment with the medium of tapestry. His first tapestry piece was Histoire de Don Quichotte, commissioned by the fermier général Pierre Grimod du Fort. From 1737 to 1741 Natoire completed several high profile tapestry commissions.

Perhaps the most important point in his career was when Natoire was commissioned to paint a portrait of the Dauphin and heir to the throne of France, Louis. This too was well received by the French royalty and Natoire became a wealthy man. In this period he painted Saint Stephen and the False Witnesses in 1745for the chapelle Saint-Symphorien inside of the Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, as well as the Triumph of Bacchus.

Natoire went back to Rome in 1751 to take up the valued position of Director of The French Academy at Rome, where he had once been a student himself. In Rome Natoire stopped painting almost entirely to focus his energies on running the Academy and on his duties as the Academy's Director. The King of France granted Natoire noble status as well as the honourable award, the Order of Saint-Michel. He completed a fresco, the Apotheosis of Saint Louis, which received a lot of criticism in the French art world, which was now dominated by the neoclassical school of art.

Natoire retired from art in his later life, and after he lost a lawsuit over his expelling someone from the Academy he was forced to pay a huge fine of twenty thousand lives. The lawsuit cast a shadow over Natoire's career, and in 1775 he was forced to retire and give up his position as the Academy Director. He spent his last days more and more reclusive and obsessed with religion, finally dying in the Castel Gandolfo.

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