A Life Among Ruins: The World of Jean-Jacques Boissard Jean-Jacques Boissard, born in Besançon, France in 1528, was a figure remarkably attuned to the shifting currents of his era—a time when the rediscovery of classical antiquity fueled both artistic innovation and religious upheaval. His life wasn’t one of serene scholarship, but rather a restless journey across Europe, driven by an insatiable curiosity for the past and complicated by the political and theological tensions that defined 16th-century France. Educated initially at Leuven, Boissard quickly abandoned the structured path of semi…