Pieter van der Heyden [1] (c. 1530 - after March 1572) was a Flemish printmaker who is known for his reproductive engravings after works by leading Flemish painters and designers of the 16th century. [2]
It is believed the artist was born in Antwerp in 1551. It is not known with whom he trained. He received commissions from the leading Antwerp publisher Hieronymus Cock. He made engravings after the paintings of famous Flemish painters of the previous generation as well as contemporary artists such as Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Frans Floris and Lambert Lombard. He also worked after the original designs made by contemporary artists such as Pieter Bruegel and Hans Bol for the publishing projects of Hieronymus Cock. An example is the project of four prints representing the four seasons, originally started by Bruegel as a project for Hieronymus Cock. Bruegel had revived the medieval tradition of depicting the four seasons with his monumental series of the months painted in 1565. When Bruegel died in 1569, he had only completed the designs for Spring and Summer. Hieronymus Cock then commissioned Bol to make designs for Autumn and Winter. The set of four prints were engraved by Pieter van der Heyden and published by Cock in 1570. [3]
Pieter van der Heyden was from 1556 onwards one of the primary engravers of the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Although van der Heyden was not an inventive engraver and his figures are considered to be stiff and angular, Bruegel seems to have preferred working with the artist because of his highly skilled technique and his fidelity to the design he was copying. It is possible that because of his awareness of these limitations of van der Heyden, Bruegel started to adapt his designs so that they did not require skill in translating washing and free-flowing marks but could be followed line for line. Van der Heyden made 26 engravings after designs by Bruegel, the most of any other printmaker. [4]
Pieter van der Heyden marked his prints often with PME, the initials of his Latinized name, Peter Mercinus. He was last mentioned in March 1572.
Pieter Bruegelthe Elder was among the most significant artists of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes ; he was a pioneer in presenting both types of subject as large paintings.
Jan Collaert the Elder or (I), Hans Collaert the Elder or Johannes Collaert (Brussels, between 1525 and 1530 – Antwerp, October 1580) was a Flemish printmaker, publisher, draftsman, tapestry designer, glass painter and designer and engraver of swords. He was the founder of a dynasty of engravers that would play a significant role in establishing Antwerp as one of the leading centres for printmaking in Europe in the second half of the 16th century and the early 17th century.
Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting represents the 16th-century response to Italian Renaissance art in the Low Countries, as well as many continuities with the preceding Early Netherlandish painting. The period spans from the Antwerp Mannerists and Hieronymus Bosch at the start of the 16th century to the late Northern Mannerists such as Hendrik Goltzius and Joachim Wtewael at the end. Artists drew on both the recent innovations of Italian painting and the local traditions of the Early Netherlandish artists.
Hans Bol or Jan Bol, was a Flemish painter, miniature painter, print artist and draftsman. He is known for his landscapes, allegorical and biblical scenes, and genre paintings executed in a late Northern Mannerist style.
Hieronymus Cock, or Hieronymus Wellens de Cock was a Flemish painter and etcher as well as a publisher and distributor of prints. Cock is regarded as one of the most important print publishers of his time in northern Europe. His publishing house played a key role in the transformation of printmaking from an activity of individual artists and craftsmen into an industry based on division of labour. His house published more than 1,100 prints between 1548 and his death in 1570, a vast number by earlier standards.
Dominicus Lampsonius was a Flemish humanist, poet and painter. A secretary to various Prince-Bishops of Liège, he maintained an extensive correspondence with humanists and artists at home and abroad. His writings on Netherlandish artists formed an important contribution to the formation of the so-called Netherlandish canon.
Maerten de Vos, Maerten de Vos the Elder or Marten de Vos was a Flemish painter. He is known mainly for his history and allegorical paintings and portraits. He was, together with the brothers Ambrosius Francken I and Frans Francken I, one of the leading history painters in the Spanish Netherlands after Frans Floris career slumped in the second half of the sixteenth century as a result of the Iconoclastic fury of the Beeldenstorm.
Tobias Verhaecht (1561–1631) was a painter from Antwerp in the Duchy of Brabant who primarily painted landscapes. His style was indebted to the mannerist world landscape developed by artists like Joachim Patinir and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. He was the first teacher of Pieter Paul Rubens.
Marten van Cleve the Elder was a Flemish painter and draftsman active in Antwerp between 1551 and 1581. Van Cleve is mainly known for his genre scenes with peasants and landscapes, which show a certain resemblance with the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Marten van Cleve was one of the leading Flemish artists of his generation. His subjects and compositions were an important influence on the work of Pieter Brueghel the Younger and other genre painters of his generation.
Pieter de Jode II or Pieter de Jode the Younger (1606–1674) was a Flemish Baroque printmaker, draughtsman, painter and art dealer. A scion of an important dynasty of printmakers active in Antwerp, he created many prints after the works of leading painters and was a close collaborator of Anthony van Dyck for whom he engraved many portraits.
Jan Baptist Barbé or Jan-Baptist Barbé (1578–1649) was a Flemish engraver, publisher and art dealer active in Antwerp. He is known for his engravings after his own designs as well as for his reproductive engravings.
Petrus, or Pieter de Jode I or Pieter de Jode the Elder, was a Flemish printmaker, draughtsman, publisher and painter active principally active in Antwerp. He was active as a reproductive artist who created many prints after the works of leading painters and was in addition a prolific designer of prints for Antwerp publishers.
Abel Grimmer was a Flemish late Renaissance painter, mainly of landscapes and, to a lesser extent, of architectural paintings. His works were important in the development towards more naturalism in Flemish landscape painting.
Jacob Grimmer was a Flemish landscape painter and draughtsman. His rural scenes and landscapes of views around Antwerp marked an important development in 16th century Flemish landscape painting away from the world landscape with its fantastic panoramas and whimsically shaped gigantic rocks towards greater simplicity and authenticity. His work influenced the next generation of Flemish landscape painters. Grimmer was a capable colorist who was able to create harmonic landscapes by using realistic colours and atmospheric values effectively.
Peeter Baltens, Pieter Balten or Pieter Custodis, was a Flemish Renaissance painter, draughtsman, engraver and publisher. Baltens was also active as an art dealer and poet. He was known for his genre paintings, religious compositions and landscapes.
Coenraed Lauwers or Coenraad Lauwers, Latinized as Coenradus Lauwers(1632 in Antwerp – 1685 in Antwerp) was a Flemish engraver, etcher and print seller. He was mainly active as a reproducer of works of leading Antwerp painters.
The Master of the Small Landscapes was a Flemish artist from the mid-16th century known for his landscape drawings. The name of this unidentified artist is derived from a series of 44 prints of landscapes that were created after the artist’s drawings, some of which have been preserved. Together with the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the drawings of the Master played an important role in the evolution of Northern Renaissance landscape art from the world landscape into an independent genre.
Pieter van der Borcht (I) or Peter van der Borcht (c. 1530–1608) was a Flemish Renaissance painter, draughtsman and etcher. He is regarded as one of the most gifted botanical painters of the 16th century. Pieter van der Borcht the Elder also introduced new themes, such as the "monkey scene" (also called singerie) into Northern art.
Mattheus Borrekens or Mattheus Borkens was a Flemish engraver, printmaker and draughtsman. He was a reproductive artist and worked on some important publications in the Southern Netherlands. He mainly treated Christian religious subjects and portraits.
Julius Goltzius was a Flemish printmaker and publisher. He was probably born in Antwerp around 1555 as the son of the painter, printer, publisher and humanist Hubert Goltzius and his wife Elisabeth Verhulst. His mother came from a well-known family of painters and illuminators from Mechelen. Her sister Mayken Verhulst married Pieter Coecke van Aelst and became the mother-in-law of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Julius Goltzius married in 1587 in Antwerp and probably died in that city well after 1601.