PILON, Germain
(b. 1525/30, Paris, d. 1590, Paris)

Monument to Henri II and Catherine de' Medici

1570s
Marble
Abbey Church, Saint-Denis

Catherine de' Medici designed a mausoleum for her husband, Henry II, herself, and her sons. This was the Chapelle des Valois, a circular building to be added to the end of the north transept at St Denis. In the middle was to stand the tomb of the King and Queen, which was begun in 1560 on Primaticcio's designs, the sculpture being carried out by Germain Pilon. The tomb was Primaticcio's solution to the problem tackled by the Giusti and Delorme in the monuments to Louis XII and Francis I. This tomb seems to be conceived more completely in the round due in part to the position for which the tomb of Henry II was destined, that is to say, the centre of a circular chapel, where it would have been seen from every angle.