Paulus Pontius

Paulus Pontius (27 May 1603 – 16 January 1658) was a Flemish engraver and painter. He was one of the leading engravers connected with the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens. After Rubens' death, Pontius worked with other leading Antwerp painters such as Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens.

Life

Paulus Pontius was born in Antwerp where he was apprenticed to the still life painter Osias Beert on 3 December 1616. He later worked under the prominent engraver Lucas Vorsterman who taught him the art of engraving. Vorsterman had joined Rubens' workshop around 1617 or 1618 and had established himself as Rubens' primary engraver since. In 1626–1627 Pontius was admitted as a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke. It has been suggested that Brouwer's painting called Fat man or Luxuria (Mauritshuis), which possibly represents the deadly sin of lust, is at the same time a portrait of Paulus Pontius.

After Rubens' death in 1640, Pontius created reproductions after the work of, amongst others, Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, Pieter van Avont, Abraham van Diepenbeeck, Anselm van Hulle, Gerard Seghers, Gaspar de Crayer, Gonzales Coques, Frans Luycx and Titian.

In his portraits Pontius conveyed the figures and their expressions in an attractive and faultless manner. This quality of his work made him one of the most sought after engravers for the various publication projects of the prominent portrait painters active in Flanders at the time. He made many of the portrait engravings that were published in van Dyck's Iconography (Antwerp, –1644), Johannes Meyssens' Images de divers hommes, Cornelis de Bie's Het Gulden Cabinet (Antwerp, 1661) and Anselm van Hulle's Icones legatorum (Antwerp, 1648).

Principal works Portraits after Van Dyck

Paulus Du Pont, or Pontius, engraver; Peter Paul Rubens; Jacob De Breuck, architect; Jan Wildens, painter of Antwerp; Jan van Ravesteyn, painter of the Hague; Palamedes Palamedesz. (I), Dutch painter; Theodoor van Loon, painter of Louvain; Theodoor Rombouts, painter of Antwerp; Cornelis van der Geest, celebrated connoisseur; Gerard Honthorst, painter of the Hague; Hendrik van Balen, painter of Antwerp; Adriaen Stalbent, painter of Antwerp; Daniel Mytens, painter of Holland; Gerard Seghers, painter of Antwerp; Simon De Vos, painter of Antwerp; Gaspar De Craeyer, painter of Ghent; Hendrik Steenwyck, painter of Antwerp; Gaspar Gevartius, jurisconsult of Antwerp; Nicolaas Rockox, magistrate of Antwerp; Jan van den Wouwer, Counsellor of State; Caesar Alexander Scaglia, Abbot of Stophard; Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden; Mary de' Medici, Queen of France. Francis Thomas, of Savoy, Prince of Carignan. John, Count of Nassau; Don Alvarez, Marquis of Santa Cruz; Don Carlos de Colonna, Spanish General; Don Diego Felipe de Guzman, Marquis de Leganez; Mary, Princess of Aremberg; Henry, Count de Berghe, in armour; Sir Balthazar Gerbier; Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange.

Portraits after Rubens Philip IV, King of Spain, 1632; Elizabeth of Bourbon, his Queen; Isabella Clara Eugenia, infanta of Spain; Ferdinand, Infant of Spain, on horseback; Gasparo Guzman, Duke of Olivarez; Cristoval, Marquis of Castel Rodrigo; Manuel de Moura Cortereal, Marquis of Castel Rodrigo; The Mother of Manuel, Marquis of Castel Rodrigo.

Various subjects after Rubens Susannah and the Elders, 1624; The Adoration of the Shepherds; The Murder of the Innocents. In two sheets, 1643; The Presentation in the Temple; Christ bearing His Cross; The Crucifixion, with Angels, one of whom is overcoming Sin and Death; The Dead Christ supported by the Virgin, with Mary Magdalen, St. Francis, and other figures; The Descent of the Holy Ghost; The Assumption of the Virgin; The Virgin suckling the Infant Christ; St. Roch interceding with Christ for the Plague-stricken; Thomyris causing the Head of Cyrus to be put into a Vessel of Blood.

Subjects after various masters

The Flight into Egypt, after Jacob Jordaens; Twelfth-Night, after Jacob Jordaens; The Adoration of the Magi, after Gerard Seghers; The Virgin with the Infant Christ and St. Anne, after Gerard Seghers; St. Francis Xavier kneeling before the Virgin and Child, after Gerard Seghers; St. Sebastian, with an Angel drawing an Arrow from his breast, after Gerard Seghers; A Dead Christ, supported by the Virgin, after van Dyck; St. Rosalia, receiving a Crown from the Infant Jesus, after van Dyck; The Holy Family, after Jan van den Hoecke; The Body of the Dead Christ, after Titian.