Jean-Baptiste Pillement was a painter and designer, known for his exquisite and delicate landscapes, but whose importance lies primarily in the engravings done after his drawings and their influence in spreading the Rococo* style, and particularly the taste for chinoiserie, throughout Europe.

Pillement, born in Lyon, had an unusually cosmopolitan career. He moved from Paris, working for the Gobelin* factory. After a brief spell at the Gobelins, in 1745 he left for Madrid. He stayed there for three years, and his work was much appreciated both in Spain and in Portugal, which he visited often.


He supervised sets of Rococo singeries* and chinoiseries* painted for Quinta de A...