Jean Mignon

His first documentary appearance is in 1537 in the royal accounts, as a painter at the Palace of Fontainebleau, continuing until 1540; no painting identifiable as his is known, and his etchings form his known oeuvre.

[9] There seems to have been a gap in his printmaking in the late 1540s, perhaps coinciding with a period when Penni seems to have been absent in Germany, probably with Leon Davent.

The putative later group is relatively small in number, but larger in size, and demonstrates a more developed technique, with a "much greater variety of etching strokes ...creating an extraordinary range of textures".

[10] Like other School of Fontainebleau etchings, many have very elaborate frames, and may have been of interest to buyers as models for craftsmen in other media.

The exception is a print purely of a frame, with an empty oval in the centre, two full length female nudes and various smaller figures of putti and herms.

[14] Another early series shows four standard scenes from the Passion of Jesus, beginning with a Deposition; these are in vertical format, with frames.