386. Corneille de Lyon (c. 1500-1575),

French, Portrait of a Woman, c. 1535.

Oil on panel, 20 x 16 cm.

The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

 

 

Corneille de Lyon

(c. 1500 The Hague - 1575 Lyon)

 

Corneille de Lyon was a portrait painter from the Netherlands who is documented as the leading painter in the distinctive French Style. Even though he holds this prestigious title, no single identifiable work can be readily documented as his partially because distinguishing his work from other artists from the same period is incredibly difficult if not impossible and the works attributed to him seem to be based on quality alone. His portraits are miniature in scale and he used oil paint and wood panels as his choice materials. The flesh tones are painted in a very thin layer while his flat green backgrounds are painted with thicker paint. In 1533 he was made the official painter to Queen Eleanor the official painter to the dauphin (Henry II) in 1541. His studio was extremely prosperous until 1565, it is thought, because he was a practicing Protestant at the time when there was a reversion in Lyon to the Catholic faction.