Jean Duvet

Jean Duvet (born 1485, Langres, France—died 1561) was a French engraver whose style and subject matter had roots in the Middle Ages and in Florentine Mannerism and foreshadowed the highly charged work of late 16th-century France. He painted religious and mystical works at a time when his contemporaries were predominantly concerned with court art.

Very little is known about Duvet. He was a goldsmith and spent most of his life in Langres and Dijon and possibly in Geneva. There is also some evidence that he worked for the French kings Francis II and Henry II.

Duvet’s earliest dated engraving, “Annunciation” (1520), is in a pure Italian style. The architectural setting is truly classical, and the figures reflect a knowledge of contemporary Roman art. His engraving “Judgment of Solomon” is undated but is probably an early work based on Raphael’s cartoon of Elymas the sorcerer and borrowings from northern Italian engravings. The depth of Duvet’s understanding of High Renaissance Italian art suggests that he must have visited Italy and seen the works of Raphael and his colleagues.

Duvet’s two best-known later works are the unicorn series and the “Apocalypse.” The former, probably done in the early 1540s, earned the artist the title of Master of the Unicorn. The unicorn engravings point stylistically toward his later works, with less defined space, congested composition, and a touch of the grotesque in the heads.

Duvet’s “Apocalypse” reflects the full realization of his imagination. The 24 engravings were published in 1561, but the first plate (a self-portrait) is dated 1555. In subject matter he borrows from the German Albrecht Dürer’s wood engravings, yet his style is highly individual. Duvet’s work starts from the visionary source of his subject matter and allows that to dictate his composition. He does not try to make his visions believable, and thus he is not interested in space or accurate depictions of spatial relationships. In addition, human figures are distorted in any way that may enhance the symbolic expression of the work.