Hieronymus Wierix

Hieronymus Wierix (1553–1619) was a Flemish engraver, draughtsman and publisher. He is known for his reproductive engravings after the work of well-known local and foreign artists including Albrecht Dürer. Together with other members of the Wierix family of engravers he played an important role in spreading appreciation for Netherlandish art abroad. He also created works that supported at various times the Protestant or Catholic causes in the Southern Netherlands.

Life Hieronymus Wierix was born in Antwerp as the son of Anton Wierix I (c. 1520/25–c. 1572). His father Anton was registered in the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp as a painter in the Guild year 1545–6 but is occasionally also referred to as a cabinet maker. It is not believed that Anton I taught Hieronymus or his other two sons Johannes and Anton II. Hieronymus and Johannes are believed to have trained with a goldsmith while Anton II likely trained with an older brother, probably Johannes.

Hieronymus was deemed a child prodigy as he started to engrave in 1565 at age 11 and produced excellent copies after Dürer a year later. He worked only briefly for the Plantin Press in Antwerp, realizing about 10 engravings in the period 1569—1571. He was admitted as a 'wijnmeester' (son of a master) in the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in the guild year 1572-1573. His first engraving as independent master dates back to 1577. During the period of 1577–1580, he made a lot of prints for Willem van Haecht the Elder and Godevaard van Haecht. These works of him were mainly allegorical and political and reflected his sympathy for those who rebelled against the Spanish suppression of non-Catholic creeds. Like his brother Jan, he regularly made reproductions after designs by Maerten de Vos and other Flemish designers, such as Johannes Stradanus and Chrispijn van den Broeck. He also made many small devotional prints. His works were further published by other Antwerp publishers such as Philips Galle, Hans van Luyck, Gerard de Jode and Jan Baptist Vrints. The Decision to Grow Wheat in a Forest Area for More Profit, 1575 – 1585. Portrait of Volcxken Dierckx, 1579 Saint Ambrose, 1586 Conservat cuncta Cupido, 1600 Portrait of Catherine-Henriette de Balzac Dentraigues, Marquise de Verneuil, 1600

National Gallery of Art, Washington Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi Dum pierulo fugendum ... O quam tristis et afflicta .. S. Lydtwina Virgo Schiedamensis ...