Léonard Limosin
Léonard Limosin (also Léonard Limousin) was a French artist from Limoges, born about 1505 and died about 1577. He was a painter, stained-glass artist, engraver, glass painter and enamel artist, and the most famous of seven Limoges enamel painters. He was the son of an innkeeper.
He probably studied with Nardon Pénicaud. His early work shows German influence, notably a 1532 signed set of eighteen enamel plaques of the Passion of the Lord after Albrecht Dürer. He also absorbed Italian styles from the Fontainebleau school (Primaticcio, Rosso, Giulio Romano, Andrea Solari), giving him taste for arabesque ornament and mythological subjects, while keeping a distinctly French voice. In 1530 he joined the court of Francis I as painter and "varlet de chambre" and kept that position under Henry II. For these kings he painted many enamel portraits, including Diane de Poitiers in various guises, as well as vases, cups and other decorative works, and he was also a respected oil painter.
His last signed works are from 1574, and he probably died by 1577. He is said to have produced about two thousand enamels. The Louvre houses his two famous votive tablets for Sainte-Chapelle (23 plaques each, signed L. L., 1553), including La Chasse with Henry II on a white horse and Diane de Poitiers behind him; as well as many royal portraits. Other examples are in Cluny and Limoges museums, and in England at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum and the Wallace Collection. A notable plaque is in Rome, in Signor Rocchi’s collection, showing Frances I consulting a fortuneteller.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:28 (CET).