Hendrick Hondius the Elder’s Pictorum aliquot celebrium, præcipué Germaniæ Inferioris, effiges (The Hague, 1610), which contains 68 portrait prints of Netherlandish artists.
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Footnotes:
- “Fructus” can be singular or plural.Return to note reference
- Nadine Orenstein comp., Huigen Leeflang ed., The New Hollstein. Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450-1700, Simon Frisius 2 vols, Ouderkerk aan den Ijssel, 2008.Return to note reference
- “quod variumque novum: “literally the solecism “what is and various new pleases”. Cf. also note on Joachim Beuckelaer: “tabulasque culinas”.Return to note reference
- The most probable sense of “imaginibus” here is perhaps “portraits”.Return to note reference
- “Almost all these are those...”. One could also translate “these are almost all the ones...”Return to note reference
- “ingenio cedere turpe putat”. Cf. Anthonie Blocklandt: “Romae cedere turpe putans”.Return to note reference
- "pictorum censor" - the same expression at Karel van Mander, and the very similar "artis censori" at Jacob Binck, apparently of the author.Return to note reference
- One of the muses. Cf. The poem on Lucas van Leyden, “nostrae ...Camenae”.Return to note reference
- “ope” could also mean “wealth”. Either way, it’s hard to see (without knowing the context) how Hubert will feel this adds to his praises.Return to note reference
- This for “vestrum”, which is plural, so the work is being credited to both brothers.Return to note reference
- “amore sui” could also mean “love of himself”, but I am presuming that the author is referring to the Lam Gods.Return to note reference
- “ille ego qui” – For the ultimate source of this phrase, see the apocryphal opening lines to the Aeneid, “ille ego qui quondam gracili modulatus avena…”Return to note reference
- “oleo de semine lini”: the same expression in the poem for Cornelis Engebrechtsz.Return to note reference
- This for “probitas”. It is hard to see quite what the author means, but “probitas” to my knowledge always has a moral sense.Return to note reference
- I am taking “rerum genetrice” as qualifying “arte” in the next line. This is awkward, but I cannot see a better solution.Return to note reference
- The entry to the underworld in Virgil’s Aeneid.Return to note reference
- The sense seems to be that Rogier painted as well as he could for his time. Compare to poem on Jan GossaertReturn to note reference
- The point seems to be that Rogier’s paintings will pass away, like all earthly things, whereas his works of mercy will gain him eternal life, and therefore last forever.Return to note reference
- I translate as if “doctissima” agrees with “Bernardus”. This is in fact impossible, as “doctissima” is feminine. It could agree with “aulica … Bruxella”, or be a vocative, addressing Margaret. But neither of these options makes much sense. Nor can it be corrected to “doctissimus” without spoiling the metre.Return to note reference
- The reference, which is found in classical poetry, is to Attalus III of Pergamum, credited with the invention of cloth of gold.Return to note reference
- "me iudice certet". Cf. Virgil, Eclogue 4, 58, "mecum si iudice certet".Return to note reference
- Cornelis Cort (c.1533-1578)Return to note reference
- “rura ... et casas”. The combination (also found in Lucas Gassel below) is from Virgil, Eclogues 2.28-29.Return to note reference
- A palimpset in this context probably means a printing plate on which previous incisions had been made and burnished out so that the plate could be used again.Return to note reference
- I am translating Lampsonius’ “amare”, not Hondius’ “amars”, which is not LatinReturn to note reference
- Because the Cyclopes worked with hammers.Return to note reference
- See note 1Return to note reference
- The greatest of poets is Virgil, and the episode in question is Aeneid 8, 369-453 and 608-fin. The author seems to think of the images on Aeneas’ shield as paintings (Virgil himself does not say clearly how Vulcan made the pictures).Return to note reference
- “oleo de semine lini”: the same expression in the poem for Jan van EyckReturn to note reference
- This of course merely means “paintings”Return to note reference
- sic. Lampsonius' text in Pictorum aliquot celebrium Germaniae inferioris effigies reads "sive Deos".Return to note reference
- sic. Lamponius' text, cited above, reads 'in gnava'.Return to note reference
- I am reading “sive” for “sine” in line 2, and “gnava” for “guava” in line 4. Both corrections are from Lampsonius.Return to note reference
- This town’s name seems now to be spelt “Aalst” (French: “Alost”).Return to note reference
- sic. see note 2.Return to note reference
- Reading Lampsonius’ “urbes” for Hondius's impossible “urbis”.Return to note reference
- Can be translated as “Caesar” Cf. note on “Emperor” on the text for Albrecht Dürer, Anthony Mor and othersReturn to note reference
- See note on the text for Bernaert van Orley.Return to note reference
- This seems to mean that Vermeyen showed more skill in painting drapery than was involved in making the drapery itself.Return to note reference
- sic. see note 3.Return to note reference
- sic. see note 4.Return to note reference
- Reading Lampsonius’ “immortali” for Hondius’ “immortalis”. With the latter reading, one would translate “whom Belgium honours with praise [as] immortals”.Return to note reference
- Reading Lampsonius “tantum” for Hondius “tantem” (?), which is not Latin.Return to note reference
- Julius Caesar describes the “Eburones” as a Belgian people in the region “extending from Liège to Aix-la-Chapelle” (Lewis & Short). I cannot say which city the author considers the “urbs Eburonia”. Presumably Dinant itself.Return to note reference
- sic. See note 2.Return to note reference
- This line is unmetrical in the Latin, because Hondius has omitted Lampsonius’ “in” before “illa”. I translate according to Lampsonius.Return to note reference
- This for the Greek Λαμψονίοτε γραφίς. Λαμψονίοτε is apparently the author’s attempt to invent a Greek adjective based on his name. However, the form is bad Greek (better would be Λαμψονιοτὴ) and neither the author’s form nor mine will help the metre. The work by Lampsonius’s pen referred to is his biography of Lambert Lombard: Lamberti Lombardi apud Eburiones pictoris celeberrimi vita, Bruges, 1565.Return to note reference
- In the Latin, “eos” can only refer to “homines”, not “facies”. English cannot do this, so one would have to translate “looking at the people themselves”, vel sim. to avoid ambiguity.Return to note reference
- The renowned portraitist Anthonis Mor (c.1517/20 – c.1576), who was a friend of Lampsonius.Return to note reference
- sic.Return to note reference
- “rura casasque”. See note on the text for Joachim Patinir.Return to note reference
- I am reading Lampsonius’ “arti” for Hondius’ impossible “arte”. are your honesty and candour, and whateverReturn to note reference
- The Latin “multa…multum” is equally vague. The sense seems to be that Floris preferred painting many works to expending much energy on any given one.Return to note reference
- The author is referring to Horace, Ars poetica 291, where “limae labor et mora” are recommended for the poet.Return to note reference
- Cf. Propertius, 2.34.65, “cedite Romani scriptores, cedite Grai” (about Virgil’s Aeneid). The implication is that Floris could have been as preeminent among painters as Virgil was among poets.Return to note reference
- Perhaps better to translate “German”.Return to note reference
- Can be translated as “Caesar” Cf. note on “Emperor” on the text for 33. Jan Vermeyen.Return to note reference
- “and sculptor” is not in Lampsonius. No sculpture by Lucas van Leyden is known. The verse shows that sculptor refers to Van Leyden’s activity as an engraver, and engravers marked their work sculpsit. Note, however, the choice of sculptor here and in the titles of 59. Heinrich Aldegrever and 61. Jacob Binck over chalcographus in the titles of 73. Hubert Goltzius and 115. Hendrick Goltzius. Interestingly, Hubert Goltzius is described in the verse as both sculptor and chalcographus, and Hendrick Goltzius is described in the title as chalcographus and in the verse as sculptor. It is possible that the characterization of engraving as ‘sculpture’ was responsive to Vasari’s privileging of sculpture as an art of disegno. At the same time, the appearance of the term chalcographus indicates that engraving was recognized as an art in its own right.Return to note reference
- si qua est ea gloria”: quoted from Virgil, Aeneid 7.4.Return to note reference
- Literally “in our Muse”. Cf. The text on 9. Hubert van Eyck, “Thalia nostra”.Return to note reference
- Sic.Return to note reference
- The Latin reads “quantu”, which is either a misprint for “quantum”, or an attempt (I doubt it) to indicate that the “um” in “quantum” is elided.Return to note reference
- “divivus …orbe Britannus”. Cf. Virgil, Eclogue 1.64, “toto divisos orbe Britannos”. The expression is thenceforth very common for describing the Britons.Return to note reference
- Jan van LeydenReturn to note reference
- “ingenio... finxit”. Cf. the texts on 67. Maarten van Heemskerk, “finxit qui ingenio”; 83. Christian van den Queborn, “fingit at ingenium”; 111. Cornelius Ketel, “finxerat ingenio”. The combination is common enough in classical Latin (Cicero, Seneca, etc.)Return to note reference
- Does the author here mean “engraved” by “expressa”? Compare note on text for 89. Joos van Winghe.Return to note reference
- I am here translating as if the author had written the ablative “censore” instead of the dative “censori”. For metrical reasons, we can be sure he wrote “censori”, but translating the dative would give the extremely awkward “you will be great for the censor of skill, if he is believed”. I have little doubt the author meant what I have written. – See also the note 5 on “pictorum censor” in Poem to the Lovers and Admirers of Pictures.Return to note reference
- In fact, for “que” we have “q.” with a vertical straight line over it (could conceivably be “qui”).Return to note reference
- “dum vita manebat”. The expression is from Virgil, Aeneid 5.722, 6.608, 6.660.Return to note reference
- “tabulasque culinas”: literally the solecism “whose and paintings kitchens we honour”. Cf. note on “new and varied” in Poem to the Lovers and Admirers of Pictures.Return to note reference
- Imitated from Virgil, Aeneid 1.460, “quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?”Return to note reference
- Cf. note on for the text on 61. Jacob Binck.Return to note reference
- “forma” could also be translated “beauty”.Return to note reference
- I suspect the author means “in his first years” (cf. the text for 141. Adam Elsheimer), but I can find no examples of “primo lumine” having this sense.Return to note reference
- Cf. introductory poem and the text for 35. Mathys Cock, “ingenio cedere turpe putat”.Return to note reference
- “pictaeque volucres” comes from Virgil, Aeneid 4.525. Virgil is writing about real birds, and is therefore using “pictae” to mean “coloured, variegated”. But here the term could also have its literal meaning, “painted”, “pinxit and “pictae” are two forms of the same verb (polyptoton).Return to note reference
- Sic.Return to note reference
- The author is apparently attempting to say that Goltzius knew enough about Roman coins and calendars to be a citizen of ancient Rome.Return to note reference
- I read “Algondo” or “Aegondo” in the Latin, but I presume the author must be referring to Philips of Marnix, lord of St. Aldegonde.Return to note reference
- I am reading “ipso” for “ipsa”Return to note reference
- “more fluentis aquae”. The expression is from Ovid, Ars amatoria3.61Return to note reference
- The same motives for art are emphasised in Van Mander’s biography of Mor. As Hessel Miedema points out in his edition of Van Mander’s Schilder-Boeck, they implicitly characterise Mor as lacking in love of art itself, which was regarded as the highest motive.Return to note reference
- “The emperor … the emperor”. Or “Caesar …Caesar”. Cf. note on “Emperor” on the text for 33. Jan Vermeyen. The Emperor in this case is Charles V – and his successor: Philip II.Return to note reference
- Sic.Return to note reference
- “tecta superba”. The expression is from Ovid, Amores 1.6.52.Return to note reference
- “recreant ... oculos”. Cf. the text for 97. Arnold Mytens, “recreant animos”; and 133. Joos de Momper, “recreantes lumina”.Return to note reference
- Cf. note for the text on 61. Jacob Binck.Return to note reference
- This for “vestrum”, which indicates a plural “you”. Unless more than one person is responsible for the image, this usage is bad Latin.Return to note reference
- The author appears to be addressing himself here.Return to note reference
- This for “ad vivum”. But the expression could also mean “from life”. See also the texts for 119. Michael van Mierevelt and 143. Isaac Oliver.Return to note reference
- I am not certain this is what the author means by “expressa”. It could also simply mean “portrayed”, “painted”. Compare note for the text on 61. Jacob Binck.Return to note reference
- Sic. The 'e' of "colore" is written in pencil only. I translate "colore".Return to note reference
- “moribus ingenio” – the same combination at 121. Otto van Veenand in patristic and medieval Latin. Like this poem, van Veen's text adds “arte” to the combination.Return to note reference
- “inventor felix” - the same phrase in the text for 127. Jacques de Gheyn.Return to note reference
- Latin speaks of “colour” in someone’s speech, meaning inventiveness and liveliness. The term can be either laudatory or derogatory.Return to note reference
- Sic, although the syllable needs to be short.Return to note reference
- Abraham Ortelius’ Theatrum orbis terrarum.Return to note reference
- I have ignored the “qui” in the last line, as it makes for Latin too bad to be turned into comprehensible English.Return to note reference
- If this is obscure, one could translate "which was [the fatherland] of learned artists".Return to note reference
- As was 119. Michael van Mierevelt.Return to note reference
- Read "quae"Return to note reference
- Cf. note on the text for 81. Hendrick van Cleef. Return to note reference
- The absence of this "and" in the Latin makes for a very awkward line.Return to note reference
- Sic. the s of "variis" is written in pencil only.Return to note reference
- I am reading “variis” for the text’s “varii”. A space seems to have been left for the missing “s”.Return to note reference
- “pascunt ... oculos” – the same expression in the text for Floris van Dijk.Return to note reference
- "pictorum censor" - see the note on this expression in 5. Poem to the Lovers and Admirers of Pictures.Return to note reference
- See note on “illustrated poems” in 7. ‘To the Lover and Hater of Things Written and Drawn’.Return to note reference
- I gather this is more likely to be Ketel, but the Latin is not clearReturn to note reference
- “finxerat”, literally “formed”, may refer to an act of the imagination, or to creative writing.Return to note reference
- Sic.Return to note reference
- Reading “primis” for the text’s impossible “primus”. Cf. also 141. Adam Elsheimer, “primis … ab annis”.Return to note reference
- Or "from life"? See note on text for 87. Crispijn van den Broeck.Return to note reference
- As was 95. Michiel Coxie.Return to note reference
- See note on the text for 91. Gillis Mostaert.Return to note reference
- Return to note reference
- Presumably for "vertice". primus,
Pontifici, et claris<116Sic Return to note reference - “sata laeta boumque laborum” is from Virgil, Georgics 1.325.Return to note reference
- I am reading “clarus” for “claris”.Return to note reference
- Purple is Tyrian from Homer onward, because it was made in Phoenicia. The reference is presumably to members of some royal family. “et ... Tyrio” is scarcely comprehensible, even after my emendation.Return to note reference
- “inventor felix” – the same phrase in the text on 91.Return to note reference
- "qui artibus egregius" - this clause could refer to either De Gheyn or the "duci belli".Return to note reference
- I have translated both “ille in line 1 and “hic” in line 2 as “he”, as they clearly both refer to Bloemaert. But the use of both pronouns so close together to indicate the same person makes the Latin awkward and confusing.Return to note reference
- This is a pun on Bloemaert’s name.Return to note reference
- i.e. rule over the Western world.Return to note reference
- cf. note on the text for 81. Hendrick van CleefReturn to note reference
- “pascunt oculos” – the same expression in the text for 103. Gillis ConinxlooReturn to note reference
- But see the verse, where the implication is that the engraving is by Jan Muller.Return to note reference
- This seems to make sense, although the Latin really requires “you recognize in [or “from”] images the colour which is authentic”.Return to note reference
- sup. lin.Return to note reference
- This for "templis", as is common enough in Renaissance Latin. But of course there are both churches and temples in Rome.Return to note reference
- or "from life"? - see note on 87. Crispijn van den Broeck.Return to note reference
- “pallida mors”: the phrase is from Horace, Odes 1.4.13.Return to note reference
- Reading "tabulis" for "tabula".Return to note reference