![Petrarch-triumph-4-fame-salomon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Petrarch-triumph-4-fame-salomon.jpg)
Bernard Salomon, (1506–1561) was a French painter, draftsman and engraver.
Little is known of the life of Bernard Salomon (also known as the Little Bernard B. Gallus or Gallo). His family may have been belt-makers in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
. He was commissioned to provide decorations for
Ippolito II d'Este
Ippolito (II) d'Este (25 August 1509 – 2 December 1572) was an Italian cardinal and statesman. He was a member of the House of Este, and nephew of the other Ippolito d'Este, also a cardinal. He is perhaps best known for his despoliation of the ...
in 1540,
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 ...
in 1548, and
Jacques Dalbon, Seigneur de Saint Andre
Jacques d'Albon, Seigneur de Saint-André (c. 1505–1562) was a French governor, Marshal, and favourite of Henri II. He began his career as a confident of the dauphin during the reign of François I, reared with the prince under the governorsh ...
in 1550.
He worked closely with the printer
Jean de Tournes
Jean de Tournes (1504 – 1564) was a French printer, book publisher and bookseller, and the founder of a long-lasting family printing business. From 1559 he was the , printer to the French king.
Life
Jean de Tournes was born in Lyon in ...
to design, engrave, and illustrate many types of books such as
emblem book
An emblem book is a book collecting emblems (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Emblem books are collections ...
s, documentaries and scientific works, and literary works, including the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
and
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
's
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...
(Lyon, Tournes, 1557). Salomon's figures were inspired by the elegant
Mannerist
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, ...
art 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 ...
, and were inspiration for engravers working in Lyon and became widely distributed and copied.
He had a daughter who married the printer
Robert Granjon
Robert Granjon (1513-November 16, 1589/March 1590) was a French type designer and printer. He worked in Paris, Lyon, Frankfurt, Antwerp, and Rome for various printers. He is best known for having introduced the typeface Civilité and for his ital ...
.
He is sometimes referred to as "'Petit", alluding to the intricate detail Salomon works into his designs at small scale.
References
* Peter Sharratt, Bernard Solomon, illustrator Lyonnais al. "Works of Humanism and Renaissance", Geneva, Droz, 2005 () with 259 illustrations
* Philippe Hoch, "Bernard Solomon Lyon illustrator" BBF, 2006, No. 2, p. 108-109
1506 births
1561 deaths
16th-century French painters
French male painters
Artists from Lyon
French draughtsmen
Engravers from Lyon
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