Attributed to Corneille de Lyon (Netherlandish, active in France, ca. 1500 – 1574), "Portrait o…

Portrait of the Count d'Angoulême

Artist Corneille de Lyon (attributed to) Netherlandish, active in France, 1500 - 1574

Dateca. 1560

Place of OriginLyons, France

MediumOil on wood panel

DimensionsPanel: 8 1/4 × 6 1/4 in. (21 × 15.9 cm)
Frame Dimensions: 14 1/2 × 11 5/8 × 3 in. (36.8 × 29.5 × 7.6 cm)
Overall (with fabric): 30 × 11 5/8 in. (76.2 × 29.5 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineThe Hyde Collection Trust, 1952

Object number1971.14

On View

On view

Collections

European Paintings & Sculpture

InscribedCrayon notation in blue, on frame: "DAHLO, HANA. RDNS" Label on frame reverse: "Count D'Angouleme" On panel, stamped: 98008 (?)

DescriptionCorneille de Lyon, though born in The Hague (in modern-day Netherlands), spent most of his career in Lyon, France, where he dominated portrait painting. Working for both local gentry and the French court, he was in 1540 appointed painter to the dauphin of France, Henri, who later ruled as Henri II, and worked for the courts of all the French kings until 1574. While Corneille paints highly individualized portraits, they become almost formulaic in format: small, with neutral backgrounds, typically of blue or green; bust-length sitters positioned in either three-quarter view or more full face; carefully detailed dress, in the Netherlandish tradition; and vivid facial expressions that frequently confront the viewer directly. Some retain their original, elaborately architectural frames, as seen here, with its free-standing columns and decorated architrave and base.

The sitter is identified by an old label on the back as the Count of Angoulême. Typical of aristocratic dress, his attire consists of a white chemise with a high, stand-up collar under his doublet and a sleeveless jerkin with slashing on top of it. His hair is cut fashionably short and he wears a beard, a sign of masculinity reserved for adult men.

Text by Penny Howell Jolly, Professor Emerita of Art History, Skidmore College, February 2026Exhibition History"L'art Francais: Selected Works from the Permanent Collection," The Hyde Collection, Aug. 11 - Oct. 6, 1996.

"Hair: Untangling a Social History" The Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, Jan. 31 - June 6, 2004.Provenanceby 1927, New York, NY, E. A. Milch , Inc.
1927, Glens Falls, NY, Mr. and Mrs. Louis F. Hyde
1952, Glens Falls, NY, The Hyde Collection Trust