A King Pursued by the Unicorn
1540/50
Medium
Engraving on paper
Dimensions
Plate: 22.8 × 39.2 cm (9 × 15 7/16 in.); Sheet: 23.8 × 39.5 cm (9 3/8 × 15 9/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
53317
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Jean Duvet is the earliest identifiable French engraver. This visionary, very personal artist shows the influence of the Fontainebleau School, although he did not belong to it. His most important series of engravings develops a History of the Unicorn; the unicorn served as a symbol for Henry II and Diane de Poitiers.
About the Artist
Jean Duvet · 1485–1570
Jean Duvet (1485–after 1562), a pioneering French goldsmith and engraver from the provincial heartlands of Dijon and Langres, emerged as the first significant printmaker in France. Born to a Dijon goldsmith, he trained in the family trade and rose swiftly, becoming master of the Dijon Goldsmiths' Guild by 1509. Duvet's early career blended goldsmithing with engraving; no specific teachers are docu...