Pierre-Paul Prud’hon remains a mystery to many. A contemporary of David, he escaped his influence and developed a rich personal form of art. His choices went against the canons of the time: he preferred allegory to history, form and light to line. He relentlessly pursued the image of happiness and drew inspiration from masters like Leonardo da Vinci, who had few followers at the time. The contributions compiled here paint a much richer and more fascinating picture of the artist than what has been suggested in art history up until now.