Philip (or Philips) Galle (1537 – March 1612) was a Dutch publisher, best known for publishing old master prints, which he also produced as designer and engraver. He is especially known for his reproductive

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

s of paintings.

Life

Galle was born in Haarlem in 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 ...

, where he was a pupil of the humanist and engraver Dirck Volkertsz. Coornhert. According to the RKD, he married Catharina van Rollant on 9 June 1569. They had five children who later became active as artists:

Theodoor Theodoor () is a masculine given name. It is the Dutch language, Dutch form of Theodore (name), Theodore. Short forms of Theodoor are Theo, Dorus (disambiguation), Dorus, Dirck, and Dirk (name), Dirk. The latter two are derived from the Germanic nam ...

, Cornelis, Philips II, Justa (who married the engraver

Adriaen Collaert Adriaen Collaert (c. 1560 – 29 June 1618) was a Flemish designer and engraver. Biography The estimated year of his birth at Antwerp is between 1555 and 1565.

) and Catharina (who married the engraver Karel de Mallery).Philips Galle
in the

RKD 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 Haarlem he engraved several works of the Haarlem painter

Maarten van Heemskerck Maarten van Heemskerck or ''Marten Jacobsz Heemskerk van Veen'' (1 June 1498 - 1 October 1574) was a Dutch portrait and religious painter, who spent most of his career in Haarlem. He was a pupil of Jan van Scorel, and adopted his teacher's Ital ...

. Even while he worked from 1557 for the Antwerp publisher Hieronymus Cock, he established himself as an independent printer in Haarlem in 1563, where he made prints after Johannes Stradanus and

Maerten de Vos Maerten de Vos, Maerten de Vos the Elder or Marten de Vos (1532 – 4 December 1603)Maerten de Vos
at the Net ...

. In 1569 the series of Counts of Holland and Zeeland was published, a series of six engravings which he made in Haarlem with Willem Thibaut, just before moving to Antwerp somewhere near the end of 1569 or the start of 1570, probably to avoid the

Siege of Haarlem The siege of Haarlem was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. From 11 December 1572 to 13 July 1573 an army of Philip II of Spain laid bloody siege to the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands, whose loyalties had begun wavering during the pre ...

. His first house in Antwerp was most probably a house called Het Gulden Hert (The Golden Deer), opposite the house of the mapmaker Ortels (also known as

Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the ''Theatrum Orbis Terrarum ...

). He managed Cock's press and succeeded Cock in 1570 and was received as a citizen of Antwerp the following year. The work contains an ''approbatio'', or permission from the ecclesiastical (Roman Catholic) authorities to publish. Galle had a difficult relationship with religion and political power during his entire life. He was a friend of the Antwerp printer

Christopher Plantin Christophe Plantin ( nl, Christoffel Plantijn; – 1 July 1589) was a French Renaissance humanist and book printer and publisher who resided and worked in Antwerp. Life Plantin was born in France, probably in Saint-Avertin, near the city of ...

and perhaps part of the secretive

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

circle of the ''

Familia Caritatis The ''Familia Caritatis'', also known as the Familists, was a mystical religious sect founded in the sixteenth century by Henry Nicholis, also known as Niclaes. ''Familia Caritatis'' translates from Latin into "Family of Love", and in other la ...

'' (Family of Love), which makes it difficult to place him as Catholic or Protestant during the Dutch Revolt. Some of his numerous prints made in Antwerp were after Anthonie van Blocklandt,

Hans Bol Hans Bol or Jan Bol (16 December 1534 – 20 November 1593), was a Flemish-Belgian painter, print artist, miniaturist painter and draftsman.Marcus Gheeraerts, Gerard Groening, and

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 ...

. Galle had many pupils who became popular engravers. The map engraver Cornelis de Hooghe (or Hogius),Cornelis de Hooghe
in the

who later died a gruesome death when he was beheaded and quartered in the Hague because of a conspiracy against the state, received his education when Galle still lived in Haarlem, while De Hooghe already worked for himself at the moment Galle moved to Antwerp. Galle's son Cornelis followed him as an engraver. Early works by Cornelis shows a striking similarity to the work of his father. Philip Galle's press and publishing house was a success. His pupils included his children, de Hooghe,

Hendrick Goltzius Hendrick Goltzius, or Hendrik, (; ; January or February 1558 – 1 January 1617) was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter. He was the leading Dutch engraver of the early Baroque period, or Northern Mannerism, lauded for his s ...

, Jan Baptist Barbé, Pieter Nagel, the sons of his colleague

Hans Collaert Jan Collaert the Elder or (I), Hans Collaert the Elder or Johannes Collaert (Brussels, between 1525 and 1530 – Antwerp, October 1580) was a Flemish printmaker, publisher, draftsman, tapestry designer, glass painter and designer and engraver of ...

Adriaen and

Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

, and

Karel van Mallery Karel van Mallery (1571–1635?) was a Flemish engraver who mainly worked on religious subjects and portraits and was also a reproductive engraver. He worked in Antwerp and Paris. Life Karel van Mallery was born in Antwerp. He was a pupil o ...

. His sons and sons-in-law carried on the business at Antwerp through the seventeenth century.

Writings

As a resident of Antwerp, Galle witnessed numerous events of the

Eighty Years War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Ref ...

, notably the siege and looting of the town in 1576 by the Spaniards, called "The Spanish Fury". Galle wrote a ''Cort Verhael'', a short chronicle of these events, which was published around the end of 1578. This booklet, which included several maps, was dedicated to archduke Matthias of Austria, a relative of the legal king Philip II of Spain, but not recognised by him as a ''landvoogd'' or supervisor of the country. A later print was dedicated to Jean de Bourgogne, lord of Froidmont or Fromont. This rather personal book, which was translated in several languages soon after its first publication, shows Galle as a peace-loving person who intended to stay far away from the political and military turmoil of his era.

Death

He died in Antwerp in March 1612.

Gallery

Pictures from the ''Theatri Orbis Terrarum Enchiridion'' 1585 File:1585 Theatri Orbis Plantinus Page0003 Titel.jpg, Titlepage File:Page0030 Germania.JPG, Germania File:1577 85 Zeland Plantinus 47.jpg, Zelandicarum File:1585 Vlaanderen Plantinus 44a.JPG, Flandria + text Engravings attributed to Galle File:Portret Macropedius, Philips Galle.jpg, Macropedius File:Abraham Ortelius Color.jpg, Ortelius File:Mors ultima linea rerum.jpg, Death is the ultimate limit File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Alchemist.JPG, The Alchemist; after Breugel File:1565 Triumph of Death Galle.jpg, Triumph of Death File:Battle of Mons Regonis (Stradanus, Philips Galle).jpg, Battle at Mons Regonis File:Phillipp Galle Zuckermühle.jpg, Sugarmill File:Island20x1024.jpg, Northern Europe 1577

Notes

References

* Philips Galle (1537–1612): engraver and print publisher in Haarlem and Antwerp, by Manfred Stefan Sellink, 1997. * Den Haag in den Geuzentijd; by Jakob Smit, Uitgegeven met steun van de Vereeniging "Die Haghe" MCMXXII, 1922, pp. 330–334.

External links

Book plates of fish by Collaert
Peacay's BibliOdyssey blog

Webpage on Philip Galle

Digital version of: Theatri orbis terrarum enchiridion / minoribus tabulis per Philippum Gallaeum exaratum.
Website on Cornelis de Hooghe

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galle, Philip 1537 births 1612 deaths Artists from Haarlem Dutch printers Dutch Golden Age printmakers 16th-century engravers 17th-century engravers Flemish engravers Renaissance engravers