Georges de La Tour

Georges de La Tour (French pronunciation:; 13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chiaroscuro scenes lit by candlelight. Artist at the confluence of Nordic, Italian, and French cultures, and a contemporary of Jacques Callot and the Le Nain brothers, La Tour is a keen observer of everyday reality.

His pronounced taste for plays of light and shadow makes him one of the most original successors of Caravaggio. Recognised during his lifetime, he was quickly forgotten after his death. Rediscovered in the early 20th century by German art historian Hermann Voss, he later inspired writers as diverse as René Char, André Malraux, Pascal Quignard, and Charles Juliet.