Philippe Galle
Encyclopedia
Philip Galle (1537 – March 1612) is best known as a publisher of old master print
s, which he also produced as designer and engraver. He is especially known for his reproductive engraving
s of paintings.
He was born in Haarlem
in the Netherlands
, 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
, Cornelis, Philips II, Justa (who married the engraver Adriaen Collaert
) and Catharina (who married the engraver Karel de Mallery).
In Haarlem he engraved several works of the Haarlem painter Maarten van Heemskerck, and though 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 Maarten de Vos. In 1569 the series of Counts of Holland and Zeeland was published, a series of 6 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
. 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). 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, which is a permission by 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 and perhaps part of the secretive humanist
circle of the 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
, Marcus Gheeraerts
, Gerard Groening, and Hans Vredeman de Vries
. Philip Galle had many pupils who became popular engravers. The map engraver Cornelis de Hooghe, 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 (or Hogius) already worked for himself at the moment Galle moved to Antwerp. Galle's son Cornelis followed him as an engraver. Early works of Cornelis shows a striking similarity to the work of his father. Philip Galle's press and publishing house was a success; besides his children and De Hooghe, the RKD mentions as pupils Hendrick Goltzius, Jan-Baptist Barbé, Pieter Nagel, the sons of his colleague Hans Collaert
Adriaen and Jan, and Karel de Mallery. His sons and sons-in-law carried on the business at Antwerp through the seventeenth century.
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, including several geographical 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. He died in Antwerp.
Pictures from the Theatri Orbis Terrarum Enchiridion 1585
Engravings attributed to Galle
With the possibility of installing the DjVu viewer plug-in.
Old master print
An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition . A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term. The main techniques concerned are woodcut, engraving and etching, although there are...
s, which he also produced as designer and engraver. He is especially known for his reproductive engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
s of paintings.
Biography
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, where he was a pupil of the humanist and engraver Dirck Volkertsz. Coornhert
Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert
Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert was a Dutch writer, philosopher, translator, politician and theologian. Coornhert is often considered the Father of Dutch Renaissance scholarship.-Biography:...
. 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 Galle
-Biography:He learned the art of engraving from his father Philip Galle. According to the RKD he married Catharina Moerentorff , daughter of Jan Moretus and Maertine Plantijn. Maertine was the daughter of Christophe Plantin. He is one of the engravers remembered in the Plantin-Moretus Museum. He...
, Cornelis, Philips II, Justa (who married the engraver Adriaen Collaert
Adriaen Collaert
Adriaen Collaert , was a Flemish designer and engraver.-Biography:The year he was born at Antwerp is not known, but this is determined to be between 1555 and 1565. According to the RKD in 1580 he became wijnmeester of the Guild of St. Luke. The title wijnmeester was reserved for sons of members,...
) and Catharina (who married the engraver Karel de Mallery).
In Haarlem he engraved several works of the Haarlem painter Maarten van Heemskerck, and though he worked from 1557 for the Antwerp publisher Hieronymus Cock
Hieronymus Cock
Jérôme or Hieronymus Cock, or Wellens de Cock was a Flemish painter and etcher of the Northern Renaissance, as well as a publisher and distributor of prints.-Biography:...
, he established himself as an independent printer in Haarlem in 1563, where he made prints after Johannes Stradanus, and Maarten de Vos. In 1569 the series of Counts of Holland and Zeeland was published, a series of 6 engravings which he made in Haarlem with Willem Thibaut
Willem Thibaut
Willem Thibaut, Tybaut, or Tibout , was a Dutch Golden Age painter.-Biography:According to the RKD he lived and worked in Haarlem, but made the cartoons for the two stained-glass windows in the Janskerk in 1570....
, just before moving to Antwerp somewhere near the end of 1569 or the start of 1570, probably to avoid the Siege of Haarlem
Siege of Haarlem
The siege of Haarlem was an episode of the Eighty Years' War. From December 11, 1572 to July 13, 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 previous summer...
. 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). 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, which is a permission by 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 and perhaps part of the secretive humanist
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
circle of the Family of Love
Family of Love
Family of Love may refer to* Familists, a mystic religious community in renaissance England and the Low Countries* Children of God, a new religious movement, which later used the names Family of Love and as of 2006, Family International...
, which makes it difficult to place him as Catholic or Protestant during the Dutch Revolt
Dutch Revolt
The Dutch Revolt or the Revolt of the Netherlands This article adopts 1568 as the starting date of the war, as this was the year of the first battles between armies. However, since there is a long period of Protestant vs...
.
Some of his numerous prints made in Antwerp were after: Anthonie van Blocklandt, Hans Bol
Hans Bol
Hans Bol , Flemish artist, received his early training from his two uncles who were also painters. He then was the apprentice to a Mechelen watercolorist and tempera painter at the age of fourteen. Because Bol’s watercolors became so widely reproduced, he began creating miniatures on parchment. The...
, Marcus Gheeraerts
Marcus Gheeraerts
Marcus Gheeraerts may refer to:*Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder , Flemish engraver and illustrator*Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger , English portrait painter and son of the above...
, Gerard Groening, and Hans Vredeman de Vries
Hans Vredeman de Vries
Hans Vredeman de Vries 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 and perspective ....
. Philip Galle had many pupils who became popular engravers. The map engraver Cornelis de Hooghe, 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 (or Hogius) already worked for himself at the moment Galle moved to Antwerp. Galle's son Cornelis followed him as an engraver. Early works of Cornelis shows a striking similarity to the work of his father. Philip Galle's press and publishing house was a success; besides his children and De Hooghe, the RKD mentions as pupils Hendrick Goltzius, Jan-Baptist Barbé, Pieter Nagel, the sons of his colleague Hans Collaert
Hans Collaert
Hans Collaert was an early Flemish engraver, father of the engravers Hans Collaert II , who married Elisabeth Galle, and Adrian Collaert who married Justa Galle, both daughters of the engraver and publisher Philip Galle...
Adriaen and Jan, and Karel de Mallery. His sons and sons-in-law carried on the business at Antwerp through the seventeenth century.
Works
Living in Antwerp, Galle witnessed numerous events of the Eighty Years War, notably the siege and looting of the town in 1576Sack of Antwerp
The sack of Antwerp or the Spanish Fury at Antwerp was an episode of the Eighty Years' War.On 4 November 1576, Spanish tercios began the sack of Antwerp, leading to three days of horror among the population of the city, which was the cultural, economic and financial center of the Netherlands. The...
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, including several geographical maps, was dedicated to archduke Matthias of Austria, a relative of the legal king Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, 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. He died in Antwerp.
Pictures from the Theatri Orbis Terrarum Enchiridion 1585
Engravings attributed to Galle
External links
- Book plates of fish by Collaert Peacay's BibliOdyssey blog
- Liège University (Belgium) Webpage on Philip Galle
- Jewish National & University Libray Digital version of: Theatri orbis terrarum enchiridion / minoribus tabulis per Philippum Gallaeum exaratum.
- http://www.cornelisdehooghe.com Website on Cornelis de Hooghe
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