Constant

Constant, Benjamin, was born at Paris in 1845, and after a course at the Beaux-Arts became a pupil of Cabanel. He began to exhibit in 1869, his first picture being Hamlet et le Roi. This was followed by Trop Tard and Samson et Delilah. The best known specimens of his style are Femmes du Riff, Le Harem, La Favorite de l'Emir, La Vengeance du Cherif, and a huge canvas displayed in the International Exhibition of 1878 and entitled Mahomed II, le 29 Mai, 1453, for which he received the Cross of the Legion of Honour. M. Constant has painted several fine portraits, and has of late occasionally abandoned his favourite field for other subjects such as Orpheus and Theodora.