Jean de Brosse, duc d'Etampes

Jean de Brosse, Duc d'Etampes from 1548 by Corneille de Lyon is a small-scale portrait by the Dutch-born painter who became the leading portraitist at the French court. Corneille specialized in tiny, jewel-like bust portraits on colored grounds that captured the likenesses of French aristocrats with extraordinary refinement. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays small-scale portraits on wood panel with distinctive colored grounds (often blue-green or red), intimate likeness combined with simplified background, precise, unidealized characterization.

The small panel portrait demonstrates Corneille's characteristic technique of painting on a colored ground with precise, delicate brushwork that captures the sitter's features in miniature scale.