manfred sellink philips galle - VU-DARE Home

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Ie/ me suis servi pen ou point de la facon de
peinclre des an-/ eiens; daultant qu'icelle est maintenant
tenue pour ob-/ scure & particuliere aux payens, & que
la nostre est plus/ claire, & 1'invention des Chrestiens est
plus en vogue & / reputation." Quoted from Philips Galle's
afterword to the Prosopographia ...... published around
1590; discussed in detail below. The large number of reli­
gious prints issued by Philips GaHe, naturally compelled
me to focus on a selection of works with this subject mat­
ter. Although the choice is, in my opinion, entirely rep­
resentative of the output of the workshop - analyzing all
important engravers, designers and authors, and provid­
ing a chronological cross-section of religious subjects pub­
lished - I have somewhat emphasized prints with a more
detailed and 'interesting' iconographie content. All quo­
tations from the Bible are cited verbatim from the King
James Version. On my preference of using the vernacular
spelling of names, see chapter 2, note 2. This chapter has
gamed much from comments made by HjaVeldman.Peter
Hecht,Jan Piet Filedt Kok and Chris Heesakkers, who
translated most of the Latin inscriptions. I am especially
grateful for the many critical remarks by Karen Bowen
and Dirk Imhof, improving both style and contents of this
study
1. The quintessential study in this respect is still
Knipping's two-volume overview of the iconography of
the Counter-Reformation: Knipping 1939-40, translated
in English and slightly revised in Knipping 1974. This
Franciscan scholar arranged his study thematically, large­
ly using examples - both from the Southern and Northern
Netherlands - from the seventeenth century. The emer­
gence of such iconography in Antwerp at the end of the
sixteenth century is, however, almost systematically over­
looked. A brief discussion on this problem is found in
Alfons Thijs s study of the Counter-Reformation in
Antwerp:Thijs 1990, pp. 97-106. Information on devo­
tional prints produced in Antwerp - again concentrating
on the seventeenth century - can also be found in: Van
Heurck 1930 and Thijs 1993. The more general surveys
of Netherlandish printmaking in the second half of the
sixteenth century (Oberhuber 1967-68, pp. 25-125,196-
247;Mielke 1979;Renger 1979, pp. 25-53; Davis 1988,
pp. 227-323, Broeker 1992 and Riggs 1993) concentrate
on the more virtuoso, mannerist type of prints made by
the best engravers m Haarlem and Antwerp, while the
bulk of religious engravings is rarely discussed. Although
problems of iconography are not specifically discussed,
Delen's two volumes on the history of Dutch and Flemish
Notes Chapter 4
ÎS5
printmaking in the sixteenth century still provide an indis­
pensable wealth of information on the subject; Delen
1934-35, vols. II/1 and 11/2. Useful, though superficial,
introductions to the subject can be found in Ihle 1965
and Voet 1976. Not very helpful, on the other hand, is
Pierre Poirier's erratic history of printmaking in Antwerp
(Poirier 1967). Unknown, but certainly useful concern­
ing the relation between Flanders and Italy in the later
sixteenth century is Borroni Salvador! 1986. More atten­
tion is paid to religious imagery in the recent survey on
Antwerp printmaking in the catalogue of the exhibition
on Flemish art in Cologne and An twerp: Savelsberg 1992a,
which is rather uneven in its treatment of engravers, pub­
lishers and their subject matter. The Christian humanist
strain in the preceding period (until 1560) is analyzed
thoroughly inVeldman 1995b. An excellent survey of Old
Testament prints in the Northern Netherlands - despite
the claim to the contrary in the title, very little attention
is paid to Flanders - in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen­
turies is provided by the two introductory essays by Peter
van der Coelen in:Van der Coelen 1996-97-
2. Galle must have been introduced to Cock by
his master Coornhert, who stopped engraving around
1559. On prints by Coornhert in this period see Riggs
1971,pp.81-85,Veldman 1989 andVeldman 1990, pp. 11-
14. On Cock's print-shop Aux quatre vents, compare
Lebeer 1968, De Pauw-deVeen 1970, Riggs 1971 and,
rather general, Burgers 1988. A general survey of Galles
early engravings can be found in chapter 1.
3. Hollstein, vol. 6, p. 255, no. 2; idem, vol, 7, p.
74, no. 2;TIB. 56, pp. 18-19, no. 6; Riggs 1971, p. 332, no.
87;Van deVeide 1975, vol. 1, pp. 391-392, no. P5.
4. Hollstein, vol 3, p. 267, no. 114; idem, vol. 7,
p. 76, no. 106;TIB. 56, p. 138, no. 44;Van Bastelaer 1906,
p. 43, no. 114; Lebeer 1969, pp. 186-187, no. 84; Riggs
1971, p. 319, no. 30; Lebeer 1976, pp. 30-31, no. 84.The
print is engraved after the drawing - unfortunately in a
rather precarious condition - now in the Boijmans Van
Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam; cp.Anzelewsky 1975,
p. 74, no. 85 and Mielke 1996b, pp. 62-63, no. 56.
5. Hollstein, vol. 3, pp. 278-279, nos. 132-138;
TIB. 56, pp. 265-271, nos. 71:1-7;Van Bastelaer 1906, pp.
47-48, nos. 132-138; Lebeer 1969, pp. 93-106, nos. 31-
37; Riggs 1971, p. 320, no. 32; Lebeer 1976, pp. 16-18,
nos.31-37.All preparatory drawings by Bruegel still exist,