Coypel (lived mid-17th–mid-18th century)

Four French painters of the same family, born in Paris: Noël (1628–1707), his sons Antoine (1661–1722) and Noël Nicholas (1690–1734), and Antoine's son Charles-Antoine (1694–1752).

Noël Coypel was employed on the decoration of the Louvre Palace in Paris 1655, and became a member of the Academy 1659 and director of the French Academy in Rome 1672. After that, he completed further decorative paintings in Paris (the Tuileries and the vault of the church Les Invalides).

His son Antoine Coypel studied under Noël in Rome and was much influenced by baroque art, decorating ceilings of the Palais Royal and the chapel of Versailles in this manner. He became principal painter to the king 1715. Like his father, he executed numerous designs for tapestries for the Gobelins factory.

Noël's other son, Noël Nicolas Coypel, was a minor subject painter.

Charles-Antoine Coypel, like his father Antoine, was painter to the king, and was also director of the Academy and illustrator of Miguel Cervantes's novel Don Quixote and works by the dramatist Molière.