BONNAT, LEON JOSEPH FLORENTIN (1833-1922), French painter, was born at Bayonne on the 20th of June 1833. He was educated in Spain, under Madrazo at Madrid, and his long series of portraits shows the influence of Velázquez and the Spanish realists. In 1869 he won a medal of honor at Paris, where he became one of the leading artists of his day, and in 1888 he became professor of painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. 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.

Source: Entry on the artist in the 1911 Edition Encyclopedia.