Gillot, Claude

Claude Gillot, (born April 27, 1673, Langres, France—died May 4, 1722, Paris), French painter, engraver, and theatrical designer best known as the master of the great painter Antoine Watteau. Gillot directed scenery and costume design for both opera and theatre. An accomplished draftsman and a man of keen intelligence, he was in part responsible for the love of the theatre, especially Italian comedy, that figures prominently in Watteau’s art.

Gillot’s sportive, mythological paintings, with such titles as “Feast of Pan,” gained him entry to the French Royal Academy in 1715, and he then adapted his art to the fashionable tastes of the day. His prints depict popular scenes and courtly comic adventures.