Gillis Coignet I (1542–1599)

• Was a Flemish Renaissance painter.
• Gillis was born in Antwerp, the son of Gillis the Elder, a scientific instrument maker, and Brigitta Anthonis.
• He had the misfortune to be born with a large hairy mole in his face, hence his nickname Gillis met de Vlek (Gillis with the Spot).
• According to the Guildbooks of the Guild of St. Luke, Gillis was apprenticed to Lambrecht Wenslyns.
• Van Mander's claim that he stayed with the art dealer Anthony Palerme for some time is correct.
• In 1561 Gillis was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke as a Master. 

• In the second half of the 1560s he journeyed through Italy.

• In Terni (Umbria) he worked with a painter called Stello on frescoes and an altar in fresco style.
• Both painters are mentioned as members of a group of decorators who embellished the salon of the Villa d'Este under the supervision of Frederico Zuccaro.
• After 1570 he returned to Antwerp.
• Gillis was married to Magdalena de Kempeneer.
• In 1581 Gillis became a member of the Armenbus of the Guild of St. Luke.
• In 1584 Gillis became Dean of the Guild of St. Luke.
• About 1593-94 Gillis went to Hamburg, "because of his religion or something else" according to van Mander, he was a Lutheran.
• Gillis died in Hamburg on 27 October 1599.
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