Van Veen is illustrious for his morals, his genius and his skill. What his genius imagined, he also painted with his own hand. He was invited by great kings, but he himself held kingdoms and worlds to be less important than his sweet fatherland. Continue Reading 121. Otto van Veen
This man of Gouda is held to be the greatest painter after Lucas van Leyden – both [are] glories of the Dutch land. He taught how well painting and poetry go together. What he painted, the other had first imagined with his genius.
Ingenious picturers live by their brush, and they live, learned Karel, by your pen. You are at the same time a painter and the candid censor of painters. It is a fine thing to paint for the judgment of an artist. Continue Reading 105. Karel van Mander
There are two twin brothers by the name of Mostaert. They are equal in skill, appearance, morals and genius. Gillis is a lucky inventor, rejoicing in colour. Thus there is colour in his words, and wit without bile. Continue Reading 91. Gillis Mostaert
Ingenious craftsman, he whom you praise was thought to be a lucky inventor and a skilled painter of carpentry. He painted lifelike bodies set forth in large shapes. On these you shall see no covering. Continue Reading 87. Crispijn van der Broeck
Fields, lakes, woods, mountains and valleys, caves, and fountains, bridges, and seas and rivers, all things pleasing to the eye, painted with varied colour – [these] his learned hand painted, but his mind imagined them. Continue Reading 83. Christian van den Queborn
What region is not full of the labour of Maarten the Dutchman, who painted and made so many pictures with his genius? Admiring cities, towers, and sad ruins, you will say that the hands of Daedalus made them. Continue Reading 67. Maarten van Heemskerk
Jacob Binck, German painter and sculptor. Binck painted and engraved himself what he imagined in his mind. His skill, hand and mind vie [with one another]. Since your [works] are learnedly expressed, you will be great, if the censor of skill is believed. Continue Reading 61. Jacob Binck
This Aldegrever is not an uneducated Westphalian. He was famous for images of kings and learned men. He painted well the tailor king,1 he who had bound Westphalia with the subtle thread of his genius. Continue Reading 59. Heinrich Aldegrever
Who is this new Hieronymus Bosch for the world, versed in imitating the master’s ingenious dreams with such great skill of paintbrush and pen – so that sometimes he surpasses even him. Pieter, [you are] blessed in your spirit, as you are blessed in your skill, for in your own and your old master’s comic type of painting, full of wit, you deserve glorious rewards of praise, everywhere and from everyone, no less than those of any artist. Continue Reading 45. Pieter Bruegel
