Dominique-Vivant Denon (1747–1825) was a French artist, diplomat, archaeologist, and museum administrator who became the first director of the Musée du Louvre — a role that earned him the title of "the father of all museums." Born Baron Vivant de Non in Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy, he was educated for a career in diplomacy and served under Louis XV and Louis XVI as a gentleman of the court and as a diplomat in Naples.

Denon's life was transformed when he accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign in 1798–99 as the official artist and draftsman. His account of the expedition, "Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte" (1802), illustrated with his own engravings, became an immediate bestseller and helped spark the wave of Egyptomania that swept Europe. His careful drawings of Egyptian temples, hieroglyphs, and antiquities were among the most accurate and detailed records available to European scholars.

In 1802, Napoleon appointed Denon as the first director-general of French museums, effectively making him the curator of the Louvre and the artistic administrator of the Napoleonic empire. In this role, Denon organized the display of art seized from across Europe, catalogued collections, and established the Louvre as the world's preeminent public museum. He was also instrumental in commissioning medals, ceramics, and decorative arts to glorify the Empire.

Denon was himself a talented engraver and draftsman, producing prints throughout his life. After Napoleon's fall, he retired from public life but remained a respected figure in Parisian artistic and intellectual circles. His legacy as a museum pioneer endures, and the Denon Wing of the Louvre bears his name. His prints and drawings are held by the Louvre, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and major collections worldwide.