Léon Bonnat

Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (20 June 1833 - 1922) was a French painter.

He was born in Bayonne, and educated under Madrazo in Madrid, Spain. He later worked in Paris, becoming known as a leading portraitist. His long series of portraits shows the influence of Velasquez and the Spanish realists He won a medal of honor at Paris in 1869, where he became one of the leading artists of his day. Became a professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1888. In May 1905 he succeeded Paul Dubois as director.

His vivid portrait-painting is his most characteristic work, but his subject pictures, such as the Martyrdom of St Denis in the Pantheon, are also famous.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)