Pierre Bontemps

Pierre Bontemps (c. 1505–1568) was a French sculptor known for his funeral monuments;^[1] he was, with Germain Pilon, one of the pre-eminent sculptors of the French Renaissance.

Figure from the tomb of Charles de Maigny (Musée du Louvre)

He executed most of the bas-reliefs on the tomb of King Francis I of France, representing the French victories at the battle of Marignano and the battle of Ceresole.^[2]

His also are the statues of the king, Queen Claude, the Dauphin, and Louis XII and Anne of Brittany on Louis' tomb in the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The figures from the tomb of Charles de Maigny (c. 1556) now reside in the Musée du Louvre.^[3]

In 1936, a sale of contents from the chateau of Monchy-Humières included a full-length marble tomb which had been used as a garden ornament. Originally thought to be of Louis, duc d'Humières (1628–1694), it was in fact Jean III d'Humières (died 1553), executed by Bontemps. This is also in the Louvre.^[4]