The French sculptor Jean Goujon (ca. 1510-ca. 1568) designed sculpture for architectural settings. His work in low relief is comparable to some of the finest examples of ancient architectural sculpture.

Nothing is known of the birth or early years of Jean Goujon. He is presumed to have been born about 1510 on the basis of the competence and maturity shown in the tomb of Louis Brézé in Rouen Cathedral (after 1531), much of which is believed to be his work, and from a documented reference (1540) to a column he made for the organ loft of St-Maclou, Rouen.

By 1544 Goujon was in Paris, working on the rood screen for St-Germain-l'Auxerrois, and he may have executed prior to this date reliefs of the Four Evangelists for the Écouen Chapel (now in Chantilly). The Deposition, the most impressive of the reliefs from St-Germain (now in the Louvre, Paris), presents the...