| Timeline |
| 1825 |
Born 30 November in La Rochelle |
| 1838 |
Takes drawing lessons from Louis Sage |
| 1841 |
Family moves to Bordeaux |
| 1842 |
Attends the Ecole Municipale de Dessin et de Peinture part-time, under Jean-Paul Alaux |
| 1844 |
Wins the first prize for figure painting |
| 1846 |
Enrols at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in the studio of François-Edouard Picot |
| 1847 |
Work for a wine merchant keeping books
|
| 1850 |
Awarded the Grand Prix de Rome |
| 1850 |
Leaves for Rome where he stays at the Villa Medici until 1854 |
| 1856 |
Marries Marie-Nelly Monchablon |
| 1857 |
The Salon bestows the Medal of Honour on Bouguereau for his Bartholoni décor as well as for his painting, The Return of Tobias |
| 1870 |
France declares war on Prussia, Bouguereau enlists in the Garde Nationale |
| 1872 |
Participates in the World’s Fair in Vienna as a jury member and as an exhibitor |
| 1877 |
Nelly dies |
| 1881 |
Commissioned to provide decorations for the Chapelle de la Vierge of the St Vincent-de-Paul church in Paris |
| 1881 |
The Société des Artistes Français is founded and Bouguereau is elected the first president of the Painting section |
| 1885 |
Elected president of the benevolent association founded by Baron Taylor, whose goal was to accumulate funds to help support less-fortunate artists and their families |
| 1889 |
Awarded membership in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Belgium |
| 1891 |
Participates in the Berlin Exposition in March |
| 1892 |
Travels to London where he prepares an exhibit of French artists at the Royal Academy |
| 1897 |
Marries Elizabeth Jane Gardner |
| 1903 |
Made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor |
| 1905 |
Dies 19 August in La Rochelle |
