Musées de Langres – Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot – Musée d'Art et d'Histoire

The son of Langres painter Jean Gillot (1639–1711), Claude Gillot was a painter, engraver and illustrator largely based in Paris. His works broach a wide range of themes, including religious subjects, notably Le Christ près d’être attaché à la croix (Christ Nailed on the Cross) his reception piece for the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1715; mythological subjects, notably Embarquement pour Cythère (Voyage to Cythera) genre painting, notably Les deux carrosses (The Two Carriages, 1707); and stage paintings, notably La scène des Tréteaux (The Stage Boards, circa 1711), which can be seen at the Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot. His output shows great imaginative range, including numerous representations of farces, the theatre, witchcraft and bacchanalia. Claude Gillot was the teacher of Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), who acquired his taste for scenes featuring the stage, ballet and gallantry.