Together with Toussaint Dubreuil and Ambroise Dubois, Fréminet represents in painting the so-called 'Second School of Fontainebleau', which, though still rooted in the principles of Mannerism, was one of the precursors of French Baroque painting.
After initial training under his father, a mediocre Parisian painter, Fréminet spent a number of years in Italy beginning in 1587, first in Rome, then around 1595/96 in the north, notably Venice and Turin, where he is said to have worked at the court of the Duke of Savoy.
Surviving engravings by Philippe Thomassin after Fréminet's works from this period reveal both his imitation of artists of the High Renaissance, especially Michelangelo, and his similarity to the younger Roman painters such as the brothers Zuccaro and Cavaliere d'Arpino.
Dubreuil's death in 1602 prompted French king Henry IV to summon Fréminet to Paris, to name him 'Peintre de la Chambre du Roi' in 1603, and in 1606 to commission him to paint the Chapelle de la Trinité at Fontainebleau. This became his masterpiece, which he completed shortly before his death.
The relatively small number of his surviving works - wall paintings, panel paintings, and drawings - and their frequently poor state of preservation make any final judgment on Fréminet's artistic importance difficult, and confirm older art-historical writing, which mentions his heavy dependence on Italian models and, with due respect for his powerful style, criticises the heaviness and uniformity of his forms.