Pilon, Germain, 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.

(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.

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Germain Pilon (c. 1537 Paris - 1590 Paris) was one of the most important sculptors of the French Renaissance. Trained by his father and (perhaps) Pierre Bontemps, Pilon was an expert with marble, bronze, wood and terra cotta; from about 1555 he was providing models for Parisian goldsmiths. He was also skilled at drawing. His works - with their realism and theatrical emotion - show the influence of the School of Fontainebleau, Michelangelo and the Italian baroque. Much of Pilon's work was on funerary monuments, especially the Valois Chapel at the Saint Denis Basilica designed by Francesco Primaticcio (never completed). He was the favorite sculptor of queen Catherine de' Medici. His most famous works include:

• Eight subsidiary statues for the Tomb of François I (contracted with Philibert de l'Orme, 1558).
• Monument containing the heart of Henri II of France (1561-1562) Louvre - made in collaboration with Domenico del Barbieri (who designed the pedestal), Pilon was responsible for the eloquent sculpture of the Three Graces, executed from a single block of marble.
• Tomb of Henri II and Catherine de' Medici (1561-1573) Abbey Church of Saint Denis Basilica - Pilon was responsible for the kneeling bronze figures on top of this monument (depicting the king and queen alive and praying) the moving and realistic recumbent figures of the queen and king in death at the center and the four Virtues at the corners of the monument, the construction of which was supervised by Francesco Primaticcio (who sculpted the four corner figures). (Catherine de' Medici is reported to have fainted at the sight of these figures.)
• Effigies of Henri II and Catherine de' Medici in coronation dress (1583) Abbey Church of Saint Denis Basilica - this later pair lacks the emotional intensity of the previous work
• Resurrection of Christ and recumbent figures of the guardians of the tomb, reunited in 1933 at the Musée du Louvre.
• Virgin of Pity (c.1585) (terra cotta) Louvre
• Tomb of Valentine Balbiani (1574) Louvre
• Descent from the Cross (1580-1585) (Bronze bas-relief) Louvre
• Three Fates (Hôtel de Cluny, Paris).

See also

• Catherine de' Medici's building projects
• French art

Notes

Further reading

• Babelon, J. Germain Pilon (Paris) 1927.