Félix Thomas

Félix Thomas (1815–1875) was a French architect and painter. He was born in Nantes and after graduating from high school Clemenceau, he studied architecture and drafting at the Polytechnique before being admitted to the Beaux-Arts where he studied art under Louis-Hippolyte Lebas. His skills as a draftsman led him to work as project architect on several major archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia and Assyria during the early 1850s. Archaeological work provided opportunities for Thomas to demonstrate his skills as an illustrator and interpreter of historic architectural buildings and he co-authored an important early book on the archaeology of Nineveh in Assyria. He turned to full-time painting in his later life and is noted for works within the Orientalist genre.