Corneille de Lyon

Born circa 1505 in The Hague; died circa 1574 in Lyon. French painter; Renaissance master of realistic portrait painting.

Circa 1533, Corneille de Lyon moved from The Hague to France, where he worked in Lyon and Paris. His small half-length portraits, which included portraits of the Due d’Angoulême and Marguerite de Valois (both in the Musée Condé, Chantilly) and of the French queen Claude (Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow), are distinguished by soft and transparent colors, refined drawing, and a smooth, light green or, less frequently, light blue background. Corneille de Lyon’s portraits are also noted for a feeling of spirituality and the subtle rendering of facial features.