Claude Mellan (1598–1688) Saint Peter Nolasco Carried to the Divine Office by Two Angels. 1627. Engraving. 341 x 475 mm. Préaud 97. A very fine print on laid paper, trimmed to a square edge. Initials in pen and sepia ink in the caption: “Dumonstier.” AABM stamp (Lugt 3075). The initials are most likely those of Daniel Dumonstier (1574–1646). Early in his career, Mellan engraved portraits based on works by Dumonstier. The two men belonged to the same circle of intellectuals: it was the famous Aix scholar Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc who introduced them. A close friend of Dumonstier, Peiresc commissioned the young Mellan to engrave portraits of his circle before encouraging him to undertake his formative journey to Italy in 1624. Saint Peter Nolasco (c. 1181–1245) was a monk from Languedoc known for founding the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, dedicated to ransoming captives who had fallen into Muslim hands during the Middle Ages in Spain. He was canonized by Pope Urban VIII in 1628 and became an important figure in Counter-Reformation theology.