Abduction_of_Pocahontas_Engraving_by_Johann_Theodore_de_Bry

Johann Theodor de Bry (1561 – 31 January 1623) was an engraver and publisher.

Biography

De Bry was born in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, the elder son and pupil of Dirk de Bry. He greatly assisted his father in works such as, the ''Florilegium novum'', which was published at Frankfort in 1612, and, with the assistance of his brother Johannes Israel, he completed the two volumes of Boissard's 'Romanae urbis Topographia et Antiquitates,' which were left unfinished at his father's death. He also published 'Emblemata secularia,' 1596, and added considerably to the collection of Portraits of Illustrious Persons, begun by his father. His pupil was Frederik van Hulsen. He died at Frankfort in 1623. His prints are signed with the initials J. T. B. or a

monogram A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series o ...

. He also made the following prints: *''Portrait of Gerard Mercator, geographer''. *''Portrait of Daniel Specklin''. *Four plates of ''the Elements''; J. T. de Bry, inv. et fec. *''The Marriage of Rebekah''; after

Baldassare Peruzzi Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi (7 March 1481 – 6 January 1536) was an Italian architect and painter, born in a small town near Siena (in Ancaiano, ''frazione'' of Sovicille) and died in Rome. He worked for many years with Bramante, Raphael, and la ...

. *''A March of Soldiers''; a frieze; after Titian. *Another ''March of Soldiers, conducting Prisoners, with Death riding on a Horse''; a frieze, called the ''Triumph of Death''; after the same. *''The Little Village Fair''; after H. S. Beham. *''The Fountain of Youth''; after the same. *''The Triumph of Bacchus''; after Giulio Romano. *''The Venetian Ball''; after Theodore Bernard; a circular plate. *''The Golden Age''; from the print engraved by N. De Bruyn; after A. Bloemaert. After his father's death in 1598, Johann Theodore took over the family's printing house. Sometimes before 1613, he moved the enterprise from Frankfurt to Oppenheim, where the firm published important works by the English Paracelcist physician Robert Fludd, and the Bohemian Michael Maier (also a follower of Paracelsus) who had served as physician to Emperor Rudolph II. Many of the works printed by De Bry also featured engravings by his son-in-law Matthäus Merian, for example ''A Hundred Ethico-Political Emblems ''by Julius Gulielmus Zincgreff (1619) which is dedicated to and celebrates the Elector Palatine Frederick V (Oppenheim's ruler). Historian Frances Yates suggests the De Bry publishing house had close ties to the Elector's court at Heidelberg given that it printed works by supporters of Frederick and the short-lived attempt to have him installed as King of Bohemia. She also points out the important role it played in publishing works (such as those by Fludd and Maier) in defense of the Fraternity of

Rosicrucians Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...

. After the

capture of Oppenheim The Capture of Oppenheim or the Spanish capture of Oppenheim took place on 14 September 1620, at Oppenheim, Electorate of the Palatinate, between the Spanish army commanded by Don Ambrosio Spinola, Marquis of the Balbases, against the forces o ...

in 1620, De Bry moved the printing house back to Frankfurt.Yates, Frances. ''The Rosicrucian Enlightenment'', Routledge: London, 1972.

References

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bry, Johann Theodor de 1561 births 1623 deaths 16th-century engravers 17th-century engravers Flemish engravers Businesspeople from Liège Artists from Strasbourg German engravers Artists from Liège