Boucher, Fran

ÇOIS, ( boo - sha ',) a French painter, B. at Paris, 1703, was appointed painter to Louis XV. after the death of Vanloo. B. was an artist of much ability, and equally facile in the production of figure or landscape pictures, - a facility, however, which was very fatal to the claims his genius might otherwise have had on posterity. In many of his paintings, picturesque effect is the only thing sought after, no matter at what cost to truth. He has been called the "A nacre on" of paint ing, on account of the amorous character of many of The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia his works; mythological and pastoral subjects were also great favorites with him. D. 1770. Bouches-du-Rhône, a maritime dep. of the S. of France, situated, as its name implies, at the mouths of the Rhône. It is bounded on the E. by the dep. Var; N. and W. by the Durance, Rhône, and the W. arm of the latter which separate it from the depts. of Vaucluse and Gard; and S. by the Mediterranean. Area , 2,331 Eng. sq. m. Surface and soil, various, but the latter generally inferior. A great part of the former is occupied by lagoons. The herring and anchovy fisheries are extensively carried on. It is divided into three arrond., viz., Marseille, Aix, and Arles-sur-Rhône. Princ. towns. Marseille (cap.), Arles, Aix, . Pop . 547,903.