Merry-Joseph Blondel was a French Neoclassical painter active in the early part of the 19th century.
He studied with the well known painter Jean-Baptiste Regnault, and from fairly early in his career formed a lasting friendship with Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.
Blondel had a tremendously successful career, garnering numerous awards and prestigious commissions, including major works for the Palace of Versailles, the palace of Fontainebleau, the Louvre Museum and the Luxembourg Palace.
His refined, exacting style varied from naturalistic to classicaly styled.
Among reproductions of his works on Wikimedia Commons, you will find a number of greyscale images (images above, second and third from bottom). These are of large scale (6 foot high [190 cm] or larger) commercially hand-printed “wallpapers” produced by Dafour, Paris, and designed by Blondel and Louis Lafitte. The figures in these have a fascinatingly sculptural quality to them. (More info on Sotheby’s, and here.)