Germain Pilon (c. 1525 – 3 February 1590)Connat & Colombier 1951; Thirion 1996. was a

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Biography

He was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and trained with his father, Andre Pilon. Documents show that he and his father executed several religious statues and tomb effigies in collaboration. Since Connat & Colombier established that Germain was born c. 1525 (rather than about ten years later, as previously believed), several early works have been reattributed to him, including the marble grouping ''Diana with a Stag'' (originally at the

Château d'Anet The Château d'Anet is a château near Dreux, in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France, built by Philibert de l'Orme from 1547 to 1552 for Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of Henry II of France. It was built on the former château at the ...

, Eure-et-Loir; now at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

).''Diana with a Stag'' was formerly attributed to

Jean Goujon Jean Goujon (c. 1510 – c. 1565)Thirion, Jacques (1996). "Goujon, Jean" in ''The Dictionary of Art'', edited by Jane Turner; vol. 13, pp. 225–227. London: Macmillan. Reprinted 1998 with minor corrections: . was a French Renaissance sculpt ...

, but

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy. Blunt was professor of art history at the University of London, dire ...

conclusively rejected that attribution in 1953 and argued the statue is very likely an early work of Germain Pilon (see Blunt & Beresford 1999, pp. 80–81). Thirion considers Blunt's reattribution to be relatively convincing (Thirion 1996, p. 812). Later he worked with Pierre Bontemps. Pilon became expert with marble, bronze, wood and terra cotta. From about 1555 he was providing models for Parisian goldsmiths. He was also skilled at drawing. His works - with their realism and theatrical emotion - show the influence of the

School of Fontainebleau The School of Fontainbleau (french: École de Fontainebleau) (c. 1530 – c. 1610) refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau that were crucial in forming the No ...

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

and Italian

Mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

. Germain at first had an Italian influence. Much of Pilon's work was on funerary monuments, especially the

Valois Chapel Catherine de' Medici's building projects included the Valois chapel at Saint-Denis, the Tuileries Palace, and the Hôtel de la Reine in Paris, and extensions to the château of Chenonceau, near Blois. Born in 1519 in Florence to an Italian fa ...

at the

Saint Denis Basilica The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

Francesco Primaticcio Francesco Primaticcio (April 30, 1504 – 1570) was an Italian Mannerist painter, architect and sculptor who spent most of his career in France. Biography Born in Bologna, he trained under Giulio Romano in Mantua and became a pupil of I ...

(never completed). He was the favorite sculptor of queen

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...

. He was the son of Andre Pilon and Jeanne Becque. He was married twice, to Germaine Durand and Madeleine Beaudoux. He had 11 children: Jean, Raphaël, Germain Junior, Gervais, Claude, Jeanne, Lucrece, Charlotte, Suzanne, Anthoine, and Philippe.

Works

Pilon's most famous works include: * Eight subsidiary statues for the ''Tomb of Francis I'' (contracted with

Philibert de l'Orme Philibert de l'Orme () (3-9 June 1514 – 8 January 1570) was a French architect and writer, and one of the great masters of French Renaissance architecture. His surname is also written De l'Orme, de L'Orme, or Delorme. Biography Early care ...

, 1558). * ''Monument containing the heart of

Henry II of France Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...

'' (1561–1562) Louvre - made in collaboration with Domenico del Barbieri (who designed the pedestal), Pilon was responsible for the eloquent sculpture of the Three Graces, executed from a single block of marble. The king's heart was placed in a bronze urn held by the Three Graces, but this urn was destroyed during the French Revolution and has been replicated.Victoria L. Goldberg, "Graces, Muses, and Arts: The Urns of Henry II and Francis I" ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'' 29 (1966), pp. 206-218. * ''Tomb of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici'' (1561–1573) Abbey Church of

- Pilon was responsible for the kneeling bronze figures on top of this monument (depicting the king and queen alive and praying) the moving and realistic recumbent figures of the queen and king in death at the center and the four ''Virtues'' at the corners of the monument, the construction of which was supervised by

(who sculpted the four corner figures). (Catherine de' Medici is reported to have fainted at the sight of these figures.) * ''Effigies of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici in coronation dress'' (1583) Abbey Church of

- this later pair lacks the emotional intensity of the previous work * ''Resurrection of Christ'' and recumbent figures of the guardians of the tomb, reunited in 1933 at the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. * ''Virgin of Pity'' (c.1585) (terra cotta)

* ''Tomb of Valentine Balbiani'' (1574)

* ''Descent from the Cross'' (1580–1585) (Bronze bas-relief)

* ''Three Fates'' ( Hôtel de Cluny, Paris).

Gallery

Image:Resurrection Pilon Louvre RF2292 MR1592 MR1593.jpg, ''Resurrection of Christ'',

Image:Pilon-risenchrist.jpg, ''Resurrection of Christ'' (detail) File:Diana of Anet.jpg, ''Diana with a Stag'', Louvre File:Rotonde des Valois Intérieur.jpg, Drawing of how the tomb of Henry II and his wife originally looked; it shows the Effigies at top and the double tomb below File:Basilica di saint Denis tomba enrico II e caterina de' Medici 02.JPG, Tomb of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici,

Saint-Denis Basilica The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

, with marble effigies File:Basilica di saint Denis tomba enrico II e caterina de' Medici 03.JPG, Saint-Denis Basilica, kneeling bronzes of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici on top of their tomb File:Heinrich II Katharina von Medici 1.jpg, Saint-Denis Basilica, marble sculptures of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici in coronation robes

Notes

Bibliography

* Babelon, Jean (1927). ''Germain Pilon''. Paris: Les Beaux-Arts, Edition d'etudes et de documents. . *

Blunt, Anthony Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy. Blunt was professor of art history at the University of London, dire ...

; Beresford, Richard (1999). ''Art and Architecture in France, 1500–1700'', 5th edition. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. . * Connat, M.; Colombier, P. du (1951). "Quelques Documents commentés sur André et Germain Pilon", ''Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance'', vol. 13, pp. 196–204. . * Thirion, Jacques (1996). "Pilon, Germain", vol. 24, pp. 812–815, in ''

The Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

'' (34 volumes), edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. Also a
Oxford Art Online
(bibliography updated 2003, 2010; subscription required).

External links