The Master of Light and Line: The Life of James Merigot In the twilight of the eighteenth century, as the rigid structures of Neoclassicism began to yield to the emotive, swirling currents of Romanticism, a singular talent emerged from the heart of France to redefine the visual language of the British landscape. James Merigot, born Jacques-François Mérigot in Paris in 1760, was more than a mere technician of the copper plate; he was a translator of atmosphere. As the son of the esteemed Parisian publisher Jacques-François Mérigot I, his lineage was steeped in the commerce of art, yet his sou…