1500–1599
The 16th century
Whose working lives fell in the 16th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 16th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed
- 1
Giambologna1529–1608 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists19 decades - 2
François Clouet1510–1572 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists17 decades - 3
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Jean Clouet1480–1541 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists17 decades - 4
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Francesco Primaticcio1504–1570 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists18 decades - 5
Niccolò dell'Abbate1512–1571 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists17 decades - 6
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Corneille de Lyon1505–1575 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists13 decades - 7
Isaac Oliver1556–1617 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists0 decades - 8
Germain Pilon1525–1590 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists22 decades - 9
Antoine Caron1521–1599 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists19 decades - 10
Ligier Richier1500–1567 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists17 decades - 11
Jean Cousin1490–1560 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists0 decades - 12
Josse Lieferinxe1500–1508 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists1 decades - 13FDFrançois Dubois1529–1584 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists22 decades
- 14
Toussaint Dubreuil1561–1602 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists6 decades - 15
Guillaume de Marcillat1470–1529 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists3 decades - 16
Jehan Cousin the Younger1522–1594 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists0 decades - 17
Juan de Borgoña1470–1534 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists0 decades - 18
Master of Saint Giles1500–1600 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists1 decades - 19
Ambroise Dubois1542–1614 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists14 decades - 20
Claude Catherine de Clermont1543–1603 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists0 decades - 21
Léonard Limousin1505–1570 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists18 decades - 22
Antonio Lafreri1512–1577 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists0 decades - 23
Charlotte Guillard1485–1557 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists3 decades - 24
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François Quesnel1542–1619 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 25
Jean de Tournes1504–1564 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 26
Hans Clemer1480–1512 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 27
Bernard Salomon1500–1561 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 28JDJean de Court1530–1584 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured—
- 29
Johann Theodor de Bry1561–1623 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 30
François Briot1550–1616 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 31
Marin Bourgeois1550–1634 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 32
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Pierre Bontemps1505–1568 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 33
Masséot Abaquesne1500–1564 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 34
Barthélemy Prieur1536–1611 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 35
Giovanni Maria Francesco Rondani1490–1550 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 36
Valentin Bouché1490–1541 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 37
Francesco Menzocchi1502–1574 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 38
Thomas de Leu1560–1612 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 39PBPierre Biard l'Aîné1559–1609 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured—
- 40
Pierre Courteys1520–1602 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured— - 41
Jan de Hoey1545–1615 · 🇫🇷 France · Artistsnot measured—
How this is measured
- Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
- Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
- Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
- What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.