Abraham van den Blocke (1572 – 31 January 1628) was an architect and sculptor.

Life

Van den Blocke was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

(today Kaliningrad),Biographical details
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

Ducal Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establishe ...

, presumably the oldest of seven children of Dorothea and Willem van den Blocke, a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

sculptor and architect who had trained with

Cornelis Floris Cornelis Floris or Cornelis (II) Floris De Vriendt (c. 1514 – 20 October 1575) was a Flemish sculptor, architect, draughtsman, medallist and designer of prints and luxury. He operated a large workshop in Antwerp from which he worked on many ...

in Antwerp. His brothers Isaak, Jacob and David were painters.Biographical details of Willem van den Blocke
at

The Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

In 1584 the family lived in Danzig (Gdańsk), where he was trained as a sculptor in his father's workshop. He moved to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for further studies in 1590-95 and became a citizen of Danzig in 1596. In 1597 van den Blocke became a master and established his own workshop in 1598. Van den Blocke died in Danzig in the same year as his father and brother Isaak, likely from an infectious disease.

Work

In 1598-1611 he made a stone altar for the St. John's church and became a municipal architect in 1611. Van den Blocke built the Golden Tenement House in 1609, the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by t ...

(1612-14) and made a front elevation of the Artushof (1616-1617). In 1606-1613 he made elements for the Neptune's well and built the Royal Granary for King

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

. He is the sculptor of several tombstones and epitaphs in St. Mary's Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blocke, Abraham van den 1572 births 1628 deaths Architects from Königsberg People from the Duchy of Prussia Emigrants from the Duchy of Prussia to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Expatriates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Dutch Republic