Bernard Salomon

Bernard Salomon (1506–1561), also known as the Little Bernard B. Gallus or Gallo, was a French painter, draftsman and engraver.

Little is known of the life of Bernard Salomon. His place of birth is unknown, but some authors link his origins to a family of belt-makers from Lyon, present in the city since the 15th century. Similarly, it is uncertain where he trained, and the theories that he went to Paris to learn his trade seem superfluous, as the city on the Rhône had a wealth of master wood engravers who would have been able to teach him the fundamentals of the woodcut art.^[1]

He married twice: his first wife was Anne Marmot, by whom he had a daughter, Antoinette Salomon, who married the printer Robert Granjon, and a son, Jean Salomon. His second wife was Louise Missilieu. He had three mansions, the last of which was located between rue Pizay and rue de l'Arbre-Sec.^[1]

He was commissioned to provide decorations for Ippolito II d'Este in 1540, Henry II of France in 1548, and Jacques Dalbon, Seigneur de Saint Andre in 1550.^[2] He worked closely with the printer Jean de Tournes to design, engrave, and illustrate many types of books such as emblem books, documentaries and scientific works, and literary works, including the Bible and Ovid's Metamorphoses (Lyon, Tournes, 1557). Salomon's figures were inspired by the elegant Mannerist art of the School of Fontainebleau, and were inspiration for engravers working in Lyon and became widely distributed and copied.^[2]

He is sometimes referred to as "Petit", alluding to the intricate detail Salomon works into his designs at small scale.^[3]