Joseph Parrocel

Joseph Parrocel was a French Baroque painter, best known for his paintings and drawings of battle scenes.
He was born in Brignoles, into an artistic family that produced fourteen painters over six generations. His grandfather Georges Parrocel and his father Barthélemy Parrocel were both painters. One badly restored painting of Bathélemy survives in the church of Saint-Sauveur in Brignoles, France. His brothers Jean Barthélemy Parrocel and Louis Parrocel also became painters. He was soon noticed
He was only thirteen years old when his father died in 1660. His elder brother Louis, who was already established as a painter in the Languedoc, took him under his care and gave him a training as painter. Three years later he ran away from his brother's house to Marseilles. His talent as a painter became soon noticed and he got a commission for a number of paintings with scenes of the life of Saint Anthony of Padua for the church Saint-Martin. But he only executed two of them. it is also possible that he painted them during his second stay in the Provence.
He left for Paris and stayed there for four years, perfecting his skills.