Philippe Thomassin

In the years following the termination of his relations with Turpin, Thomassin rebuilt up a stock of circa 250 engraved plates. These were left in his will to his second wife, Girolama Piscina, whom he married on 3 June 1602 and who, as inventories of the possessions of Girolama and her second husband Francesco Agazzi evince, was in possession of the engraved plates in June 1627.^[6] The plates ultimately passed into the possession of the de’ Rossi publishing family.^[7] In addition to issuing prints after the work of contemporary artists, Thomassin also engraved plates after artists from the preceding centuries including Raphael, Parmigianino, Francesco Salviati and Giorgio Vasari. The decision to produce prints after these earlier Tuscan and Northern-Italian artists was motivated by Thomassin's involvement with the Sienese art collector and dealer, Giulio Mancini (1559–1630).^[8] Mancini was present in Rome from 1592 and Thomassin is referred to in Mancini's correspondence with his brother Deifebo Mancini on 25 September 1609, in reference to a sottocoppa (or metal wine dish) that was to be engraved by Thomassin following a design by Guido Reni.^[9] In the following six years, Thomassin continued to issue prints after drawings and paintings in Mancini's collection, including Parmigianino's The Virgin and Child in 1611, Vasari's Immaculate Conception in 1611–12, Zuccari's The Adoration of the Magi in 1613 and Francesco Salviati's The Baptism of Christ in 1615.^[10] Jamie Gabarelli has pointed out that the relationship between Thomassin and Mancini was one based not only on a professional interaction but also one based on reciprocal favours, and the resulting engravings represent the earliest group of engravings to be based on works owned or handled by a single collector.^[11]

Between 1608 and 1611/1612 Jacques Callot was present in Thomassin's workshop, where he was tasked with engraving prints after well known paintings: a commercial practice which offered a steady source of income.

• Bruwaert, Edmond, La vie et les œuvres de Philippe Thomassin, graveur Troyen 1562–1622, Troyes, 1914.
• Bury, Michael, The Print in Italy 1550–1620, London, 2001.
• Gabarelli, Jamie, ‘Philippe Thomassin and Giulio Mancini’s Art Collection’, Print Quarterly, XXXII, December 2015, pp. 379–94.
• Grivel, Marianne (1996). "Thomassin". In Turner, Jane (ed.). The Dictionary of Art. 30. New York: Grove's Dictionaries. p. 746. ISBN 1-884446-00-0. OCLC 1033647127 — via the Internet Archive.
• Pagani, Valeria, ‘Philippe Thomassin’s engraved plates after 1602’, Print Quarterly, XXXIII, September 2016, pp. 251–62.