Pilon, Germain

Pilon, Germain (zhĕrmăN` pēlôN`), 1535–90, French sculptor. He was court sculptor under the later Valois sovereigns. He executed several sculptures on Henry II's mausoleum at Saint-Denis. In the Louvre are a number of his vigorously realistic works including The Three Graces, supporting an urn that once held the heart of Henry II; portrait busts of Henry II and Francis II; The Virgin; and, his masterpiece, the figure of Chancellor René de Birague. As controller of the mint under Charles IX he made the finest medallions, medals, and coins of his time.

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Pilon, Germain

(born 1535, Paris, France—died Feb. 3, 1590, Paris) French sculptor. His decoration of the tomb of Francis I (1558), a relatively early work, shows an Italian influence, but he later developed a distinctively French expression by fusing elements of Classical and Gothic art with the Fontainebleau adaptation of Mannerism. His best-known works are funerary sculptures for Henry II and Catherine de Médicis at St.-Denis (1561–70). His work represents a transitional link between the Gothic tradition and Baroque sculpture.