Les scènes de théâtre dans les éditions de Jean de Tournes, père et fils, aux xvi^e et début du xvii^e siècles

Jean de Tournes, a printer based in Lyon, published in 1556 a small picture book devoid of any text, reissued the following year under the title Pourtraits divers. In addition to old illustration prints from the printer’s stock, the book presented unique prints that cannot be found in any other edition by De Tournes, his son, Jean II, or any of his colleagues. Prominent among them is a series of 22 theatre scenes. Why was such a series never used again in illustrated books dealing with theatre? Focusing on the context of their creation and production, the place of illustration in plays published by the De Tournes, father and son, and proposing some iconographic parallels, we try to unravel the mystery of a remarkable series of prints that remained “in reserve” all through the sixteenth century.