Jan Collaert II

Perseus and Andromeda

Jan Collaert II or Hans Collaert II (ca. 1561, Antwerp - in or after 1620, Antwerp) was a Flemish engraver and printmaker working in Antwerp around the turn of the 17th century. Collaert also published under the name Jan Baptist Collaert.[1]

Life

Jan Collaert was the son of Anna van der Heijde and Jan Collart I and the brother of Adriaen Collaert.[2][3] He trained under his brother Adriaen as well as with leading Antwerp engravers Philip Galle and Gerard de Jode. He became member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1585 and was the Guild's dean in 1612.[2]

From 1580 through his death c. 1620, Collaert and his brother were both employed by Philip Galle, one of the most prolific print publishers in Europe during the late sixteenth century.[4] The brothers both married a daughter of Galle. Jan married in the late 1590s with Elisabeth Galle, after he became a widower of Elisabeth Firens, whom he had married in 1595. The last entry on Jan Collaert II in the Guild's records dates from the yearbook 1620/21.[2]

His pupils included Barbara van den Broeck and Antony van der Does.[2]

Work

"Sara" engraving by Jan Collaert II, from Icones Illustrium Feminarum Veteris Testamenti, book published in 1591 in Antwerp

Engravers of the period often worked from drawings done by a different artist and many of both the Collaert brothers' etchings are recorded as being "after Phillip Gale". Another contemporary draughtsman who provided source material was Maerten de Vos, a Flemish painter in the Mannerist tradition. De Vos was the author of approximately 1600 drawings that later were made into prints. Collaert also made a series of prints after de Vos' drawings.[5]

The series of twenty illustrations- plus a title page- depicting Biblical characters engaged in heroic acts were completed between 1590-1595 in association with Cornelis van Kiel, a Dutch lexicographer and writer, for his Latin text Icones Illustrium Feminarum Veteris Testamenti (The Celebrated Women of the Old Testament). The engravings, "clearly Mannerist in inspiration"[6] are reminiscent of Sandro Botticelli's work, detailed portrayals of Rubenesque figures with tiny heads and expressive hands.

He also produced book illustrations for Antwerp publishing house Plantin Moretus.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ New Hollstein 1993
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jan Collaert (II) at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
  3. ↑ Adriaen Collaert at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
  4. ↑ Diels 2010
  5. ↑ Sellink 1997
  6. ↑ Spaightwood 2009

References

Further reading on the Collaert dynasty

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jan Collaert II.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/31/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.