“He matches all the criteria of the portrait [of Joachim du Bellay],” Crubézy said. “He is an accomplished horseman, suffers from both conditions mentioned in some of his poems, like in La Complainte du désespéré, where he describes ‘this storm that blurs [his] mind,’ and his family belonged to the royal court and the pope’s close entourage,” he added.

The poet is also known to have ridden on horseback from Paris to Rome, “which is no mean feat when you have tuberculosis like he did,” Crubézy explained. For more on the discovery of the sarcophagus, go to “Update: Notre Dame’s Nobility.