HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hendrik Hondius I (born Hendrik de Hondt; 9 June 1573 – ) was 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; ...
-born and trained engraver,
cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
, and publisher who settled in the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
in 1597.


Life

He was born as the son of Guillam (Willem) de Hondt, a
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
, in
Duffel Duffel () is a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the town of Duffel proper. On 1 January 2020, Duffel had a total population of 17,664. The total area is 22.71 km² which gives a population dens ...
(
Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...
in Flanders).Henri de Hondt ou Hondius le Vieux
at the
Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' ( French; "National Biography of Belgium") is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ' ...
, Volume 5, pp. 181–185.
Hendrik Hondius I
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 ...
The 17th century Flemish biographer
Cornelis de Bie Cornelis de Bie (10 February 1627 – ) was a Flemish '' rederijker'', poet, jurist and minor politician from Lier. He is the author of about 64 works, mostly comedies. He is known internationally today for his biographical sketches of Flemish ...
reports that Hondius' father was a learned man who moved with his family to
Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
. Here the young Hondius learned to write.''Het gulden cabinet vande edel vry schilder const''
online facsimile version in Google books, p.486
After the death of his father he moved with his mother to
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
. After his mother's marriage to a citizen of Antwerp, Hondius was apprenticed in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
to Godfried van Ghelder, goldsmith to
Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma Alexander Farnese ( it, Alessandro Farnese, es, Alejandro Farnesio; 27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592) was an Italian noble and condottiero and later a general of the Spanish army, who was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1586 to 1592 ...
. He also studied drawing with the engraver
Jan Wierix Jan Wierix or Johannes Wierix (1549 – c. 1620) was a Flemish engraver, draughtsman, and publisher. He was a very accomplished engraver who made prints after his own designs as well as designs by local and foreign artists. Together with o ...
of Antwerp. At this time he started to study engraving. He applied himself to mathematics and studied perspective, architecture and the construction of fortifications with
Hans Vredeman de Vries Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – c. 1607) was a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer. Vredeman de Vries is known for his publication in 1583 on garden design and his books with many examples on ornaments (1565) and perspective (1604 ...
and Samuel Marelois. After travelling to Cologne, London and Paris, he moved to
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
by 1597. That year he registered in the local artists’ guild and married the daughter of a goldsmith of The Hague. He obtained his first print privilege for a portrait of Prince Maurits.Marika Keblusek, 'Boeken in de hofstad: Haagse boekcultuur in de Gouden Eeuw', Uitgeverij Verloren, 1997, p. 29 He dedicated himself to his engraving practice. His work was very well received and he got commissions from many eminent personalities for engravings or drawings. He was granted a general privilege by the
States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...
in 1599. Hondius was thus the first publisher to obtain a national privilege until Peter Paul Rubens in 1618. The privilege provided protection against circulation in the Dutch Republic of copies of his published works.Stephanie Porras, Repeat Viewing. Hendrick Hondius' ''Effigies''
/ref> He moved to Amsterdam in 1603 and Leiden in 1604–1605. Here he published with the printer Breukel Cornelisz Nieulandt of The Hague the book ''Perspective'' by
Hans Vredeman de Vries Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – c. 1607) was a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer. Vredeman de Vries is known for his publication in 1583 on garden design and his books with many examples on ornaments (1565) and perspective (1604 ...
. He returned to settle in The Hague in 1605.Nadine Orenstein and Christiaan Schuckman. "Hondius (ii).
Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 13 Jun. 2014
After his return to The Hague his prints displayed the Buitenhof as his address. The young
Constantijn Huygens Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist C ...
followed in 1611 for three months drawing classes with Hondius. Hondius bought in 1614 a large house between the
Binnenhof The Binnenhof (; en, Inner Court) is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, Netherlands, next to the Hofvijver lake. It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministr ...
and the
Gevangenpoort The Gevangenpoort (''Prisoner's Gate'') is a former gate and medieval prison on the Buitenhof in The Hague, Netherlands. It is situated next to the 18th-century art gallery founded by William V, Prince of Orange in 1774 known as the ''Prince Will ...
in The Hague which he used as work and living quarters. He joined in 1617 the local church counsel where he adopted an anti-catholic and anti-
arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...
standpoint. He had a flourishing printing business in The Hague, which was continued by his sons
Willem Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, Gui ...
and Hendrik. Initially he hired printers to do his printing until he bought his own printing press in 1620. He turned more to publishing rather than engraving and printing in the 1630s. His publications were mainly maps, books about fortifications and official portraits. He also reused original plates and blocks by earlier artists for reprinting and such reprints represented almost a third of his publishing output. In the 1640s he returned to printing concentrating exclusively on etching. He remained active as a printmaker and draughtsman until his final years.


Effigies

One of the most important publications of Hondius was the work ''Pictorum aliquot celebrium praecipue Germaniae inferioris Effigies'' (Effigies of some celebrated painters, chiefly of Lower Germany) of 1610, which was a collection of 69 portraits of mainly Netherlandish artists. Of these portraits, 22 were reworked versions of portraits contained in a book with almost the same title by
Dominicus Lampsonius Dominicus Lampsonius (Latinised form of Dominique Lampsone) (1532, in Bruges – 1599, in Liège) was a Flemish humanist, poet and painter. A secretary to various Prince-Bishops of Liège, he maintained an extensive correspondence with humanist ...
that was published in Antwerp in 1572 by the widow of Hieronymous Cock. The 1572 book contained 23 portraits of early Netherlandish artists, all of whom had died before the publication, including a portrait of Hieronymous Cock who had died while preparing the publication. Through his 1610 book Hondius updated and expanded the canon of Netherlandish painting. He included some German and English artists in an apparent attempt to situate the Netherlanders within a broader, more semantically uncertain 'Northern' canon. Hondius constructed the series as part of a continual celebration of past and present Netherlandish artists. Hondius did not include in his book the portrait of Cock, which was the last portrait in the 1572 publication. Hondius did not identify the authorship of the individual engravings (most of which were done by the Wierix brothers in the Lampsonius series). Like in the 1572 publication, he added Latin poems underneath each portrait with a short description of the specific qualities of each artist.


Publications

* ''Icones virorum nostra patriumque memoria illustrium, quorum opera cum literarum studia tumvera religio fuit restaurata'', ab Henr. Hondio sculptae, aeneisque typis excusae, 1599 * ''Praestantium aliquot theologorum qui Rom. Antichristum praecipue oppugnarunt, effigies'', 1602, with
Jacobus Verheiden Jacobus Verheiden (Verheidanus Graviensis) (fl. 15901618) was a Dutch schoolmaster known as an author. Life He was the elder brother of William Verheiden (1568–1596) from Grave. They both attended the University of Leiden in 1590, and Jacobus ...
* With
Hans Vredeman de Vries Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527 – c. 1607) was a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer. Vredeman de Vries is known for his publication in 1583 on garden design and his books with many examples on ornaments (1565) and perspective (1604 ...
(whose portrait he engraved), a book on Perspective, Leiden, 1604–1605 * ''Pictorum aliquot celebrium praecipue Germaniae Inferioris effigies'', Hagae Comitis, 1610 * ''Belgiae Pacificatorum vera delinealio. Pourtraicture vraye des pacificaleurs des Pays Bas''. True likenesses of the peacemakers of the Netherlands, Hagae Comitis Ex off. Henri Hondii, 1608 * ''Topographia variarum regionum etc. ou les vues d'après nature'', by
Matthijs Bril Matthijs Bril or Matthijs Bril the Younger (1550 – 8 June 1583) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman of landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made feat ...
, engraved by Henri Hondius, 1611, 1614 * ''Pompe funèbre de Charles V, exécutée par ordre de Philippe II'', Brussels, Joan à Duelecum, Luc. Duetecum fec. Hondius exec., 1619 * ''Korte Beschrijvinge ende afbeeldinge der generale regelen der fortificatie, der artillerie munitie ende vivres van deselver en hare commissien van de leger, aerde wallen de approchen met het legenweer ende van vyerwerken'', Hagae-Comitis, 1624Online print
at International Institute for Social History
* ''Alghemeine regelen der sterkebouw'', The Hague, 1625 * ''Theatrum honoris in quo nostri Apelles saeculi, seu pictorum, qui patrum nostrorum memoria vixerunt, celebriorum pracipue quos Belgium tulit, verae et advivum expressae imagines in aes incisae exhibeniur'', Amsterdam, 1612, 1618 * ''Les hommes illustres, gravés et imprimés par H.H.'' * ''Les portraits des hérésiarques et autres hommes illustres par H. Hondius, J. Muller, J. Matham, J. Stadeler, etc.''


References


External links


Vermeer and The Delft School
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Hendrik Hondius I

An essay by
Joanna Woodall Joanna Woodall (born 1956) is an art historian at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, where she is a specialist in portraiture and Netherlandish art. Education Woodall has a BA degree in history from the University of York and an MA and P ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hondius, Hendrik I 17th-century cartographers 1573 births 1650 deaths Dutch art historians Dutch cartographers Dutch engravers Dutch Golden Age printmakers Flemish cartographers Flemish engravers People from Duffel