Hieronymus Cock
Encyclopedia
Jérôme or Hieronymus Cock, or Wellens de Cock (c. 1510–1570) was a Flemish
painter and etcher of the Northern Renaissance
, as well as a publisher and distributor of prints
.
He was born to a family of painters; his father was Jan Wellens de Cock
, his brother Matthys Cock
. He was admitted to the painters' guild of Saint Luke
in Antwerp in 1545 and from 1546 to 1548, he travelled to Rome. When he returned to Antwerp in 1548, he founded his own publishing house, Aux quatre vents or In de Vier Winden (the "House of the Four Winds"). He issued his first prints there in 1548. Cock's enterprise played an important role in the spread of the Italian High Renaissance
throughout northern Europe as Cock published prints by prominent engravers as Giorgio Ghisi
, Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert, and Cornelis Cort
after leading Italian painters as amongst others Raphael
, Primaticcio and Andrea del Sarto
. Vincenzo Scamozzi
copied many of the engravings made by Cock for his own volume on Rome. Cock also published prints after painters from the Netherlands such as Frans Floris
, Pieter Brueghel the Elder
, Maarten van Heemskerck, and Hieronymus Bosch.
With the Spanish cartographer Diego Gutiérrez
, he collaborated on a 1562 Map of America.
From 1557, Philippe Galle
worked at his printing house and later succeeded him there.
called Pictorum aliquot celebrium Germaniae inferioris effigies, a set of 23 engraved portraits of artists with short verses printed below them, sometimes signed "IHW". The list of artists in the Hieronymus Cock version were (in order): Hubert van Eyck
, Jan van Eyck
, Hieronymus Bosch, Rogier van der Weyden, Dirk Bouts
, Bernard van Orley
, Jan Mabuse
, Joachim Patinir
, Quentin Matsys
, Lucas van Leyden
, Jan van Amstel
, Joos van Cleve
, Matthys Cock
, Herri met de Bles
, Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen
, Pieter van Aelst
, Jan van Scorel
, Lambert Lombard
,
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Willem Key
, Lucas Gassel
, Frans Floris
, and ending with Hieronymus Cock himself. The book includes a poem by Lampsonius dedicated to the memory of Hieronymus Cock and applauding the work of his widow. In 1610 22 of these prints served as models for Hendrik Hondius I
who published a book of the same name with 69 engraved portraits, though he dropped the portrait of Cock himself. This last portrait (often numbered 23) may however have been dropped because the inscription under it claims the likeness was made after death, rather than being drawn as was more customary, "ad vivum" or after the living model.
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
painter and etcher of the Northern Renaissance
Northern Renaissance
The Northern Renaissance is the term used to describe the Renaissance in northern Europe, or more broadly in Europe outside Italy. Before 1450 Italian Renaissance humanism had little influence outside Italy. From the late 15th century the ideas spread around Europe...
, as well as a publisher and distributor of prints
Old master print
An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition . A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term. The main techniques concerned are woodcut, engraving and etching, although there are...
.
Biography
Jan Wellens de Cock
Jan Wellens de Cock was a Flemish painter and draftsman of the Northern Renaissance. He was probably born in Leiden in Holland but settled in Antwerpen....
, his brother Matthys Cock
Matthys Cock
Matthys Cock or Matthijs Wellens de Cock was a Flemish landscape painter and draughtsman of the Northern Renaissance.-Biography:...
. He was admitted to the painters' guild of Saint Luke
Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was identified by John of Damascus as having painted the...
in Antwerp in 1545 and from 1546 to 1548, he travelled to Rome. When he returned to Antwerp in 1548, he founded his own publishing house, Aux quatre vents or In de Vier Winden (the "House of the Four Winds"). He issued his first prints there in 1548. Cock's enterprise played an important role in the spread of the Italian High Renaissance
High Renaissance
The expression High Renaissance, in art history, is a periodizing convention used to denote the apogee of the visual arts in the Italian Renaissance...
throughout northern Europe as Cock published prints by prominent engravers as Giorgio Ghisi
Giorgio Ghisi
Giorgio Ghisi was an Italian artist in engraving and painting. Born in Mantua, he trained with Marcantonio Raimondi and subsequently worked with Hieronymus Cock in Antwerp....
, Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert, and Cornelis Cort
Cornelis Cort
Cornelis Cort was a Dutch engraver and draughtsman. He spent the last 12 years of his life in Italy, where he was known as Cornelio Fiammingo.-Biography:...
after leading Italian painters as amongst others Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, Primaticcio and Andrea del Sarto
Andrea del Sarto
Andrea del Sarto was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. Though highly regarded during his lifetime as an artist senza errori , his renown was eclipsed after his death by that of his contemporaries, Leonardo da Vinci,...
. Vincenzo Scamozzi
Vincenzo Scamozzi
thumb|250px|Portrait of Vincenzo Scamozzi by [[Paolo Veronese]]Vincenzo Scamozzi was a Venetian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century...
copied many of the engravings made by Cock for his own volume on Rome. Cock also published prints after painters from the Netherlands such as Frans Floris
Frans Floris
Frans Floris, or more correctly Frans de Vriendt, called Floris was a Flemish painter. He was a member of a large family trained to the study of art in Flanders.-Biography:...
, Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a Flemish renaissance painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and peasant scenes . He is sometimes referred to as the "Peasant Bruegel" to distinguish him from other members of the Brueghel dynasty, but he is also the one generally meant when the context does...
, Maarten van Heemskerck, and Hieronymus Bosch.
With the Spanish cartographer Diego Gutiérrez
Diego Gutiérrez (cartographer)
Diego Gutiérrez was a Spanish cosmographer and cartographer of the Casa de la Contratación. He was given this post by royal appointment on October 22, 1554, after the death of his father Dylanger in January 1554, and worked on the Padrón Real....
, he collaborated on a 1562 Map of America.
From 1557, Philippe Galle
Philippe Galle
Philip Galle is best known as a publisher of old master prints, which he also produced as designer and engraver. He is especially known for his reproductive engravings of paintings.-Biography:...
worked at his printing house and later succeeded him there.
Pictorum aliquot celebrium Germaniae inferioris
At his death in 1570 he left behind the most prominent print publishing establishment in Europe north of the Alps. His widow Volcxken Diercx continued the publishing house until her death in 1601. In 1572 she published the popular book by Dominicus LampsoniusDominicus Lampsonius
Dominicus Lampsonius , of Bruges and Liège, was a Flemish humanist, poet, and artist. Through his writings, a great deal is known about engravers and printers of the era...
called Pictorum aliquot celebrium Germaniae inferioris effigies, a set of 23 engraved portraits of artists with short verses printed below them, sometimes signed "IHW". The list of artists in the Hieronymus Cock version were (in order): Hubert van Eyck
Hubert van Eyck
Hubert van Eyck was a Flemish painter and older brother of Jan van Eyck. He was probably born in Maaseik, Flanders, now in Belgium....
, Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....
, Hieronymus Bosch, Rogier van der Weyden, Dirk Bouts
Dirk Bouts
Dieric Bouts was an Early Netherlandish painter. According to Karel van Mander in his Het Schilderboeck of 1604, Bouts was born in Haarlem and was mainly active in Leuven , where he was city painter from 1468...
, Bernard van Orley
Bernard van Orley
Bernard van Orley , also called Barend or Barent van Orley, Bernaert van Orley or Barend van Brussel, was a Flemish Northern Renaissance painter and draughtsman, and also a leading designer of tapestries and stained glass...
, Jan Mabuse
Jan Mabuse
Jan Mabuse was the name adopted by the Flemish painter Jan Gossaert; or Jennyn van Hennegouwe , as he called himself when he matriculated in the guild of St Luke, at Antwerp, in 1503.-Biography:Little is known of his early life...
, Joachim Patinir
Joachim Patinir
Joachim Patinir, also called de Patiner , was a Flemish Northern Renaissance history and landscape painter from the area of modern Wallonia...
, Quentin Matsys
Quentin Matsys
Quentin Matsys was a painter in the Flemish tradition and a founder of the Antwerp school. He was born at Leuven, where legend states he was trained as an ironsmith before becoming a painter...
, Lucas van Leyden
Lucas van Leyden
Lucas van Leyden , also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch engraver and painter, born and mainly active in Leiden...
, Jan van Amstel
Jan van Amstel
Jan van Amstel was a Dutch Northern Renaissance painter.In or before 1528, van Amstel moved to Antwerp, when he joined its Guild of Saint Luke. He married Adriane van Doornicke, who would after his death remarry and give birth in 1544 to the future painter Gillis van Coninxloo...
, Joos van Cleve
Joos van Cleve
Joos van Cleve was a painter active in Antwerp around 1511 to 1540. He was born around 1485 and died in between 1540 and 1541...
, Matthys Cock
Matthys Cock
Matthys Cock or Matthijs Wellens de Cock was a Flemish landscape painter and draughtsman of the Northern Renaissance.-Biography:...
, Herri met de Bles
Herri met de Bles
Herri met de Bles was a Flemish Northern Renaissance and Mannerist landscape painter...
, Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen
Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen
Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen, or Jan Mayo, or Barbalonga was a Dutch Northern Renaissance painter.-Biography:...
, Pieter van Aelst
Pieter van Aelst
Pieter van Aelst or Pieter Coecke van Aelst was a Flemish painter. He studied under Bernaert van Orley and later lived in Italy before entering the Antwerp Guild of painters in 1527. In 1533, he travelled to Constantinople for one year in a failed attempt to establish business connections for...
, Jan van Scorel
Jan van Scorel
Jan van Scorel was an influential Dutch painter credited with the introduction of High Italian Renaissance art to the Netherlands.-Biography:He was born in Schoorl, north of Alkmaar and close to Egmond Abbey...
, Lambert Lombard
Lambert Lombard
Lambert Lombard was a Renaissance painter, architect and theorist for the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. During his career he worked for Jan Gossaert in Middelburg and trained Frans Floris. In 1532 he became court painter and architect in Liège...
,
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Willem Key
Willem Key
Willem Key was a Flemish renaissance painter.-Biography:According to van Mander he learned painting together with Frans Floris from Lambert Lombardus in Liège. He became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in 1540. He was a rich man who lived in a large house in the center of town near...
, Lucas Gassel
Lucas Gassel
Lucas Gassel , was a Flemish Renaissance painter.-Biography:According to Karel van Mander he was a landscape painter greatly admired by Dominicus Lampsonius, who was also his friend....
, Frans Floris
Frans Floris
Frans Floris, or more correctly Frans de Vriendt, called Floris was a Flemish painter. He was a member of a large family trained to the study of art in Flanders.-Biography:...
, and ending with Hieronymus Cock himself. The book includes a poem by Lampsonius dedicated to the memory of Hieronymus Cock and applauding the work of his widow. In 1610 22 of these prints served as models for Hendrik Hondius I
Hendrik Hondius I
Henrik Hondius I or Hendrik Hondius the Elder , was a Dutch Golden Age engraver, cartographer and publisher.-Biography:He was born in Duffel and settled in The Hague in 1597. According to Cornelis de Bie's Het Gulden Cabinet, his father was Guiliam Hondius, a learned man who moved to Mechelen,...
who published a book of the same name with 69 engraved portraits, though he dropped the portrait of Cock himself. This last portrait (often numbered 23) may however have been dropped because the inscription under it claims the likeness was made after death, rather than being drawn as was more customary, "ad vivum" or after the living model.