Jacques-Ferdinand Humbert was a French painter who specialized in portraits and historical scenes. His uncle, Jean Charles Ferdinand Humbert (1813–1881), was a famous landscape painter who had studied with Ingres. He received his education at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he enrolled in 1861. His teachers there included François-Édouard Picot, Alexandre Cabanel and Eugène Fromentin. His first showing at the Salon came in 1865, with a canvas depicting the “Flight of Nero”. He received awards at subsequent Salons in 1866, 1867 and 1869. In 1874, he began what would become his major life’s work; “Pro Patria” (For the Homeland), a series of wall paintings at the Panthéon, which were completed in 1900. They comprised a cycle of the history of France and Paris, as well as a celebration of the Republic. His fame extended outside France and he was especially well-known among Parisians as a master of female portraiture. He served as a Professor at the École nationale until 1902, a few years after he opened his own art academy in the former studios of Fernand Cormon. Later, he was awarded the Legion of Honor; eventually becoming a Commander.