Antoine Caron (1521–1599) was a French

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

maker, illustrator,

Northern Mannerist Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, es ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and a product 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 ...

. He is one of the few French painters of his time who had a pronounced artistic personality. His work reflects the refined, although highly unstable, atmosphere at the court of the

House of Valois The Capetian house of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the List of French monarchs, French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589 ...

during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

of 1560 to 1598.

Life

Caron was born in

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...

between 1521 and 1530 to Phillipe and Adele (Lamarre) Caron. He married Marie Dangobert in 1555. Together, they had one son, Louis, who was born ca. 1570.

Career

He began painting in his teens doing frescos for a number of churches. Between 1540 and 1550 he worked under

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 ...

and

Niccolò dell'Abbate Niccolò dell'Abbate, sometimes Nicolò and Abate (1509 or 15121571) was a Mannerist Italian painter in fresco and oils. He was of the Emilian school, and was part of the team of artists called the School of Fontainebleau that introduced the Ita ...

at the School of Fontainebleau. In 1561, he was appointed the

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. As court painter he also had the duties of organizing the court pageants. In this way he was involved in organizing the ceremony and royal entry for the coronation of Charles IX in Paris and the wedding of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

with

Marguerite de Valois Margaret of Valois (french: Marguerite, 14 May 1553 – 27 March 1615), popularly known as La Reine Margot, was a French princess of the Valois dynasty who became Queen of Navarre by marriage to Henry III of Navarre and then also Queen of France ...

. Some of his surviving illustrations are from these pageants. His drawings of festivities at the court of Charles IX are likely sources for the depiction of the court in the

Valois Tapestries The Valois Tapestries are a series of eight large tapestries depicting festivities or "magnificences"Strong, Roy, ''Splendor at Court'', pp. 121–167. held by Catherine de' Medici's Royal Courts in the second half of the 16th century. The tapestri ...

. He died in Paris in 1599.

Art

The Lion of Barbarossa by Antoine Caron 1562

Not many of Caron's works survive, but they include historical and allegorical subjects, court ceremonies, astrological scenes, and his massacres, done in the mid-1560s. An example is his only signed and dated painting, ''Massacres under the Triumvirate'' (1566) which hangs in 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 ...

. Caron used bright colors and incorporated unusual architectural forms. He often placed his human figures almost insignificantly on grand stages, as did his mentor dell'Abbate. His figures tend to be elongated, even in portraits such as ''Portrait of a Lady'' (1577). Many works attributed to him are also attributed to others. As there is minimal documentation of French painting in that era, this is not unusual. Because Caron is relatively well known, his name is likely to be attached to paintings similar to his known works. In some cases, such painting are now ascribed "to the workshop of Antoine Caron", for example, ''The Submission of Milan to Francis I in 1515'' (c. 1570).

Selected works

* ''Massacres of the Triumvirate'', 1566, oil on linen canvas, 116 × 195 cm,

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 ...

, Paris * ''La Sibylle de Tibur'', 1575/1580, oil on canvas, 170 × 125 cm, Louvre, Paris, (''The

Tiburtine Sibyl The Tiburtine Sibyl or Albunea was a Roman sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur (modern Tivoli). The mythic meeting of Cæsar Augustus with the Sibyl, of whom he inquired whether he should be worshiped as a god, was ofte ...

'' or ''Augustus and the Sibyl of the Tiber'') * '' Abraham and Melchisedek'', c. 1590, wood, 80 × 94 cm. private collection, Paris
''Astronomers Watching an Eclipse'' or ''Dionysius the Areopagite Converting the Pagan Philosophers''
1570s, oil on canvas, 93 × 73 cm., formerly in the collection of

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 ...

, London, now at the

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood, Los Angeles, Brentwood neighborhood ...

, Los Angeles * ''Portrait of a Lady'', 1577, Tempera on panel,

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pinak ...

, München * ''Le train de deuil Amors'', Louvre, Paris (''The funeral procession of Love'' or ''An Allegory of the Death of Love'') * ''Bagathan and Tharès'' Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (State Graphics Collection) in the Münchner Haus der Kulturinstitute (Munich Culture Institute), Munich * ''The Elephant Carousel'', 1598, oil on wood, 87 × 130 cm., private collection, Paris * ''The Arrest and Supplication of Sir Thomas More (1478–1535)'' oil on wood, Musee de Blois,

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

* ''Apotheose of Semele'', c. 1585, oil on wood, 65 × 76 cm. private collection, Paris * ''The Triumph of Winter'', c. 1568, oil on canvas, 103 × 179 cm, private collection * ''Diane Chasseresse'', 1550, oil on Louvre, Paris, (''Diana, the Huntress'') chool of Fontainebleau ... * ''The Submission of Milan to Francis I in 1515'', c. 1570, oil on wood, 50.5 × 66.8 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario orkshop of ... ref name="Milan"/>

Gallery

Image:Antoine Caron 001.jpg, ''Augustus and the Sibyl of the Tiber'' (c. 1578) Image:Antoine Caron 002.jpg, ''Massacres of the Triumvirate ''(1566) Image:Henri Lerambert, Le Christ et la Femme adultère.jpg, , ''Christ and the Adultress'' Image:Caron-Antoine-triumph-of-winter.jpg, ''Triumph of Winter'' (c. 1568) Image:Antoine Caron Astronomers Studying an Eclipse.jpg, ''Dionysius the Areopagite Converting the Pagan Philosophers ''(c. 1570)''Dionysius the Areopagite Converting the Pagan Philosophers'' The Getty Research Institute
/ref> File:41MA-B.jpg, ''The massacre under the Triumvirate'', Musée d'Art classique de Mougins

Notes

References

* Ehrmann, Jean (1955) ''Antoine Caron: peintre à la cour des Valois, 1521-1599'' (Travaux d'humanisme et Renaissance, No 18) Droz, Geneva
OCLC 30014514
* Ehrmann, Jean (1986) ''Antoine Caron: peintre des fêtes et des massacres'' Flammarion, Paris, * Chilvers, Ian (ed.) (2004) "Caron, Antoine (1521-1599)" ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art'' (3rd ed.) Oxford University Press, Oxford, * Hueber, Frédéric (2016) ''La vie et l'oeuvre d'Antoine Caron (1521-1599)'', University of Geneva, Geneva (PhD thesis in history of art), 3 vol.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caron, Antoine 1521 births 1599 deaths People from Beauvais French Mannerist painters Court painters 16th-century French painters French male painters