Henri-Pierre Picou, like his friends Gérôme, Boulanger, and Hamon, studied in the ateliers of Delaroche and Gleyre. Like them, he also debuted at the 1847 Salon and later received a second Grand Prix de Rome (in 1853) for his painting, The Moneylenders Chased from the Temple (École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris). Although he shared in their enthusiasm for mythological and classical subjects, h