He then spent eight years at several locations in Italy, copying the old masters and taking particular inspiration from Raphael. While there, he was one of a large group of artists chosen to provide decorations for Napoleon's visit at the Palazzo del Quirinale although, as it turned out, he never produced more than sketches. After that, he spent some time in Paris and received a Gold Medal from Napoleon.[why?] While there, he also worked with Godefroy Engelmann, one of the first lithographers in France.
An exhibition in Ghent two years later led to his appointment as court painter to King William I of the Netherlands in 1815. In this position, he began a campaign for the return of several major art works that had been looted from Bruges by the French Army; including pieces by Michelangelo, Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, and Gerard David. In thanks for his successful efforts, the City Council of Bruges voted to award him a gold medal in 1816. He was elected a fourth class corresponding member living abroad of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands in 1816.[1]
From 1825 to 1829, he painted several works in support of the Greek War of Independence and styled himself "Joseph Dionysius Odevaere". He also wrote some treatises on art and was a regular, highly opinionated contributor to local periodicals.
H. Hyman, Joseph-Désiré Odevaere, in: Biographie nationale de Belgique, XVI, 1901, col. 68–74.
Albert Schouteet, Kunstschilder Jozef Odevaere en de terugkeer van geroofde kunstschatten uit Frankrijk naar Brugge in 1816, in: Album archivaris Jos Desmet, Brugge, 1964.
Denis Coekelberghs, Les peintres belges à Rome de 1700 à 1830, Academia Belgica, 1976.
M. Guedron, Suvée, Odevaere, Kinsoen et Ducq: quatre preintres Brugeois à Paris au temps du néo-classicisme, in: Jaarboek 1995–96, Stedelijke Musea Brugge, pgs.238-254.
Andries Van Den Abeele, Prefect Bernard-François de Chauvelin en de schilder Joseph Odevaere, in: Handelingen van het genootschap voor geschiedenis, Brugge, 2004, pgs.365-374.
