JEAN JACQUES

See also:

• JEAN JACQUES BOISSARD (1528-16oz)

BOISSARD (1528-16oz)  , French antiquary and Latin poet, was born at Besancon . He studied at Louvain; but, disgusted by the severity of his master, he secretly left that seminary, and after traversing a great part of Germany reached Italy, where he remained several years and was often reduced to great straits . His residence in Italy developed in his mind a taste for antiquities, and he soon formed a collection of the most curious monuments from Rome and its vicinity . He then visited the .islands of the Archipelago, with the intention of travelling through Greece, but a severe illness obliged him to return to Rome . Here he resumed his favourite pursuits with great ardour, and having completed his collection, returned to his native country; but not being permitted to profess publicly the Protestant religion, which he had embraced some time before, he withdrew to Metz, where he died on the 30th of October 1602 . His most important works are: Poemata (1574); Emblemata (1584); Icones Virorum Illustrium (1597) ; Vitae et Icones Sultanorum Turcicorum, &c . (1597); Theatrum Vitae Humanae (1596); Romanae Urbis Topographia (1597—1602), now very rare; De Divinatione et Magicis Praestigiis (16o5); Habitus Variarum Orbis Gentium (1581), ornamented with seventy illuminated figures .