Mentioning the painter: A “Commonplace” of the celebration of romantic Tristan, “Bonard,” and French Renaissance poets

“Le Talisman” evokes the portrait of the poet’s lady beloved painted by a certain Bonard. In addition to hypothesizing about the identification of the painter, this study examines the poetic “site” that Tristan offers an original variation on. It places the mention of the painter in a long tradition, initiated by Petrarch and illustrated in France by Ronsard and his followers from the 1580s, to highlight the resources it offered to romantic lyricism and poetic celebration.