The chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) studied bacteria, developing a method of pasteurizing food as well as the first vaccines against infectious diseases. His portrait was sculpted by Paul Dubois. Dubois, whose work was highly valued at the time, portrayed a number of the personalities of the period in both sculpture and painting. In addition to portraits, he executed several public sculptures, uniting a thorough realism with inspiration from the Italian Renaissance.