Bernard Palissy (1510 - 1589)

Bernard Palissy (1510 - 1589) - photo 1

Bernard Palissy

Bernard Palissy was a French natural scientist, painter, ceramicist and sculptor, geologist and writer of the French Renaissance.

Born into a family of artisans, Palissy apprenticed with his father as a glass artist and traveled throughout southwestern France comprehending pottery and studying geology. Today he is best known for his amazing lead-glazed pottery with images of various animals and people. After seeing a white glazed cup, probably of Chinese porcelain, in the 1540s, he set out to learn the secrets of its manufacture. His early research is described in De l'art de la terre. Although Palissy never succeeded in reproducing what he saw, his experiments gave him a thorough knowledge of the chemical compositions of minerals.

From 1575 in Paris, Palissy gave public lectures on natural history, which were published as Discours admirables (1580). In this treatise, Bernard Palissy touches on an incredibly wide range of subjects, from the techniques of ceramics, metallurgy and chemistry to hydrology, geology and fossils. He correctly identified fossils as the remains of ancient life. This work reveals him as a writer and scientist, a creator of modern agronomy and a pioneer of the experimental method, with scientific views generally more advanced than those of his contemporaries.

Date and place of birt:1510, Saintes, France
Date and place of death:1589, Paris, France
Period of activity: XVI century
Specialization:Artist, Ceramist, Geographer, Geologist, Glass painter, Naturalist, Porcelain painter, Sculptor, Writer
Genre:Animalistic
Art style:Renaissance

Creators Renaissance

Bartolomeo Ramenghi (1484 - 1542)
Bartolomeo Ramenghi
1484 - 1542
Jan Polack (1435 - 1519)
Jan Polack
1435 - 1519
Giorgio Ghisi (1520 - 1582)
Giorgio Ghisi
1520 - 1582
Teofane di Creta (1485 - 1559)
Teofane di Creta
1485 - 1559
Giovanni Antonio da Brescia (1490 - 1525)
Giovanni Antonio da Brescia
1490 - 1525
Philipp Veit (1793 - 1877)
Philipp Veit
1793 - 1877
Scipione Pulzone (1544 - 1598)
Scipione Pulzone
1544 - 1598
Pieter Bruegel I (1525 - 1569)
Pieter Bruegel I
1525 - 1569
Antonello da Messina (1430 - 1479)
Antonello da Messina
1430 - 1479
Jan van Scorel (1495 - 1562)
Jan van Scorel
1495 - 1562
Girolamo da Santacroce (1490 - 1556)
Girolamo da Santacroce
1490 - 1556
Hans Burgkmair (1473 - 1531)
Hans Burgkmair
1473 - 1531
Matthäus Zasinger (1477 - 1555)
Matthäus Zasinger
1477 - 1555
Venturino Mercati (XV century - ?)
Venturino Mercati
XV century - ?
Vittore Carpaccio (1465 - 1526)
Vittore Carpaccio
1465 - 1526
Giacomo Pacchiarotti (1474 - 1540)
Giacomo Pacchiarotti
1474 - 1540