Corneille de Lyon

Corneille de Lyon (* 1500 in The Hague, † 1575 in Lyon ) was a Flemish- French painter of the Renaissance.

Life

Corneille settled in Lyon and was famous for portraits. By no later than 1541, he was house painter ( " painctre de la maison " ) of the French heir, the future King Henry II, after his accession to the throne in 1547 court painter, also under his successors King Francis II and Charles IX. of France. He painted portraits of members of the royal family and of persons from the vicinity of the court in whose stays in Lyon, but also of citizens. Corneille was called during his lifetime, as well as his sons, with his place of origin " de La Haye ." His full name is unknown. The name " de Lyon " was first used in the 19th century by bouchot.

From Corneille exclusively small portraits ( 10x12cm to 20x25 cm) with single color, green or blue background are known. They show the body only up to the waist. They are all unsigned, only one, Portrait Pierre Aymeric in the Louvre, at the back labeled by its first owner and dated ( 1534, Corneille is designated as a painter of Queen Éléonore ). The quality is very different, the distinction between handwritten and workshop operations unsafe. The heads are usually with great care and accuracy, set forth in part expressive and alive, other parts mostly without individual characteristics. The heads are also highlighted in part by the illumination; it occurs from about 1540 to a tendency to shorten the shadows. The portraits were painted immediately without preparatory drawings in oil on wood. For the earlier assumption that they were largely developed according to drawings or paintings by other artists, there is no evidence; also it is contrary to contemporary reports. Of the portraits of famous personalities often have multiple copies, probably produced mainly by employees.

His works are, inter alia, represented in Boston, London, New York City, Paris, Versailles and Vienna.