In 2023, art historian Dr Camille Larraz published a study in the Revue des Musées de France on a fascinating artist from the circle of the great French portraitist Corneille de Lyon (circa 1500-circa 1574). This anonymous artist, named the Master of 1561, takes his name from a magnificent Portrait of a man that first appeared on the auction market in New York (Christie’s, January 28, 2015, lot 151), initially attributed to Corneille de Lyon. However, the back of this portrait bears an inscription that could be the author’s signature: “Brontinus”, along with the date “Pinsit anno MDLXI” (1561). Besides this potential signature, which excludes the work from Corneille de Lyon’s corpus, the portrait, while indebted to the art of Corneille de Lyon, displays slightly different stylistic characteristics. Specialist Camille Larraz highlights a finer brushstroke and a more vaporous touch, revealing the hand of another artist. Given the stylistic proximity linking this anonymous portraitist to Corneille de Lyon, Camille Larraz places the Master of 1561 in Lyon, possibly even in Corneille de Lyon’s workshop, and hypothetically proposes identifying him as Jean Brotin. This Jean Brotin, relatively poorly documented, appears in the archives of the city of Lyon between 1526 and 1536. In 1533, he participated in the decoration for the entry of Queen Eleanor, second wife of Francis I. It was probably during this work that he met Corneille de Lyon, who was also active on this project, and assimilated his artistic techniques. Furthermore, a certain Jean Brotin appears in 1552 in the archives of the city of Avignon, working on the decoration for the entry of the legate Alexander Farnese in Avignon.

Five other Portraits of men, all painted on panel around the mid-16th century and characterized by a magnificent brushstroke that earned them a more or less convincing attribution to Corneille de Lyon, are attributed to Jean Brotin by Camille Larraz. These portraits display remarkable stylistic uniformity: we note the unique way Jean Brotin represents the eyes, as if they were covered by a thin veil on the lower part, or the noses, whose tips are highlighted by a touch of light, as well as the vaporous and meticulous brushwork, especially in the treatment of skin tones and clothing. This Portrait of a man adds to the small list of Jean Brotin’s works, whose recent rediscovery represents a significant development in the study of 16th-century French portraiture. Moreover, it is currently the only known drawing by Jean Brotin.

We thank Dr Camille Larraz for her expertise.