Pope Nicholas V Opening the Tomb of St Francis of Assisi in 1449
by LA HYRE, Laurent de, Oil on canvas, 221 x 164 cm
La Hyre’s main training consisted of studying the works at Fontainebleau, particularly those of Primaticcio, but also those of Dubois and the other painters of Henry IV’s time. The effect of this training can be seen in his earliest surviving work, for example in the present altarpiece painted for the Capuchins in the Marais. In this altarpiece the architectural setting, seen in sharp perspective, is used very much as it had been in the ceiling panels of the Galerie d’Ulysse.