Claude Mellan was among the most original and celebrated engravers of the seventeenth century, somewhat to his disappointment. He longed for recognition as a painter, which eludes him still because his hand has yet to be convincingly identified. Mellan was born in Abbéville in 1598. The inscription on his earliest dated engraving reveals he was already established and working in Paris by 1619.
Mellan came to Rome in the spring of 1624 seeking to perfect his technique under Francesco Villamena, who died in August. On 27 October of the same year, MelIan attended a meeting of the Accademia di San Luca, which was presided over by its new principe Simon Vouet (also present were Nicolas Régnier and Trophime Bigot). Vouet was eager to have his designs translated into engravings, the mass media of the time, and immediately invited Mellan to share his house. Within the next two years, Mellan finished thirteen prints after Vouet’s paintings. He declined to return to France with him in 1627, however, and remained in Italy until 1637.
