![Jean Germain Drouais - Dying Athlete or Wounded Roman Soldier [1785] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2889/12671898923_a4f3d2037f.jpg)
Jean Germain Drouais - Dying Athlete or Wounded Roman Soldier [1785], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.
Jean Germain Drouais (Paris, November 25, 1763 - Rome, July 15, 1788) was a French historical painter. In 1783 he was admitted to compete for the great prize of painting offered by the Academy, the subject being the Widow of Nain. After inspecting the works of his fellow-competitors, however, he lost hope and destroyed his own canvas, but was consoled by the assurance of his master David that he had not done badly, and would have won the prize. This was further revealed by the fact that no first prize was awarded in 1783 after his work was withdrawn. The next year he was triumphantly successful, the Woman of Canaan at the Feet of Christ, with which he gained the prize, being compared by competent critics with the works of Poussin. He was carried shoulder high by his fellow-students through the streets to his mother's house, and a place was afterward found for his picture in the Louvre.
[Musée du Louvre, Paris - Oil on canvas, 125 x 182 cm]