(Sebastian), a famous painter, born at Montpelier, in 1619. He studied seven years at Rome; and acquired such reputation, that at his return to France he had the honour of being the first who was made rector of the academy of painting at Paris. He succeeded better in his landscapes than in his history-painting. His pieces are seldom finished; and those that are so, are not always the finest. He once laid a wager with a friend, that he should paint 12 heads after the life, and as big as the life, in one day. He won it; and these are said not to be the worst things he ever did. His most considerable pieces are, The gallery of M. de Bretonvilliers, in the ile of Notre Dame; and, The seven works of mercy, which he etched by himself. But the most esteemed of all his performances is, The martyrdom of St Peter, drawn for the church of Notre Dame: It is kept as one of the choicest rarities of that cathedral. Bourdon was a Calvinist; much valued and respected, however, in a Popish country, because his life and manners were good. We have also by this master a great number of etchings; which are executed in a bold, masterly style, and much more finished than those we generally meet with from the point of the painter. They are justly held in the highest estimation by the generality of collectors. He died in 1673, aged 54.