Hieronymus Wierix

Place: Antwerp

Born: 1553

Death: 1619

Biography:

Hieronymus Wierix (1553–1619) was a Flemish engraver and brother of Jan Wierix, and member of the Antwerp Wierix family who made engravings after well-known artists, including Albrecht Dürer.
Wierix was born and died in Antwerp. According to Cornelis de Bie's book of artist biographies Het Gulden Cabinet he and his brothers Jan and Antoine were all engravers. After his father death he was given to Jerome Manacker for training on painting. Hieronymus Wierix is mostly known for his "very delicate religious prints on a very small scale". In 1570, Wierix worked in master work of Christoph Plantin where he was mastering engraving. He was only seventeen when he made his first engraving for Plantin. He made about 120 engravings for Plantin from 1569 to 1576. 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 and his nephew Godevaard van Haecht. These works oа him were mainly allegorical and political, where he reflected his sympathy for those who rebelled against the Spanish.
His apprentices were Abraham van Merlen, Jan Baptist van den Sande the elder, and Jacob de Weert. His daughter Christina married the engraver Jan-Baptist Barbé, who later had his other daughter Cecilia (his sister-in-law) declared insane in order to claim her inheritance, a set of Dürer drawings.
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
National Gallery of Art, Washington

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