Abraham Mignon was born in Frankfurt, Germanyt where he was baptized in the Calvinist church on 21 June 1640. His family was originally from Hainaut in the Southern Netherlands from where it had immigrated to Germany for religious reasons. In Frankfurt they owned a shop.

When Abraham's family moved to Wetzlar in 1649, Abraham was placed in the care of Jacob Marrel, a specialist flower painter and art dealer. Marrel gave the young boy also artistic training. He clearly trusted Mignon to handle his business, as he would leave it in Mignon's hands during his frequent visits to the Dutch Republic and in particular, Utrecht. It was also Marrell who asked Mignon to train his live-in stepdaughter Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717) in the art ...