MILAN, Pierre - b. ~1425 ?, d. ~1460 Paris

French medallist and engraver. He is first recorded in 1545 and was working as an assistant to the medallist Marc Béchot (c. 1520-57) in 1547. His prints are unsigned and were for a long time attributed to René Boyvin, who was his pupil in 1549-50. He has been identified with the copper-plate engraver Pierre de La Cuffle, who is mentioned by Karel van Mander I. He was often in debt and was several times obliged to pledge his plates to his creditors, who included François Clouet. He remained in close contact with Boyvin, who in 1553 finished two plates begun by Milan. They worked together on the inventory drawn up on the death of Luca Penni in 1557.

Zerner attributed seven engravings to him, including Dance of the Dryads after Rosso Fiorentino, Jupiter and Callisto after Francesco Primaticcio and Clelia Escaping from the Camp of Porsena after Giulio Romano. Perhaps the most interesting of the works attributed to him is the print of the Nymph of Fontainebleau, the only part of the decorative ensemble of the Galerie François I at the château of Fontainebleau to be engraved by the Parisian printmakers of the time. It contributed to the spread of the theme of Diana in French 16th-century engraving. It seems likely that some engravings attributed to Boyvin are by Milan.

Nymph of Fontainebleau

This engraving was made after a design by Rosso Fiorentino. Although produced in Paris, it emblematises much of the style and spirit of Fontainebleau. The elaborate framework, composed of animated caryatids intertwined with thick leather strapwork and pendulous garlands of fruit — and further enlivened by infant musicians and peculiar-looking dogs — is characteristic of the decoration of the Gallery of Francis I, and indeed reproduces with minor variations a frame that can still be seen in the Gallery.

This print was begun by the skilled Parisian engraver Pierre Milan, one of the first artists to reproduce Rosso’s designs for the palace. Left incomplete for several years, it was finally finished by Ren� Boyvin, who had earlier worked as an assistant to Milan. The styles of the two artists are so close that it is impossible to distinguish the hands. Both used a crisp and precise engraved line that is perfectly suited to this decorative subject, in which even the grasses and the water take on the quality of ornamental metalwork.