CORNEILLE DE LYON
(b. 1500/10, The Hague, d. after 1574, Lyon)

Portrait of a Man

1536-40
Oil on walnut, 17 x 14 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington

The unknown sitter of this portrait is depicted in bust length, and set against a blue background. The brown garment could identify the sitter as a member of the Franciscan order, or an academic, since university dress grew out of clerical garb and in the sixteenth century the two are at times quite similar. The portrait is one of is Corneille's finest paintings from his best period.