Pictorum 1572

English: Pictorum aliquot celebrium Germaniae inferioris effigies (literal translation: Effigies of some celebrated painters of Lower Germany) is a book consisting of 23 portraits of prominent early Netherlandish painters engraved by some of the leading engravers of the time such as Jan Wierix, Adriaen Collaert and Cornelis Cort. The author of the book was Dominicus Lampsonius who wrote an introductory dedication and provided Latin epigrams for each print. The book was published in 1572 in Antwerp by Volcxken Diericx, the widow of the prominent publisher Hieronymus Cock. The last print was a portrait of Hieronymus Cock made after his death and has been attributed to Jan Wierix.

Netherlandish canon, Lampsonius, image-tombstone Archiv Version
Pictorum aliquot Germaniae Inferioris Effigies, by Dominicus Lampsonius, 1572 online version at the Courtauld Institute of Art.

The first two editions were published in 1572 by the widow of Cock in Antwerp (the first edition accompanied by Latin verses in letterpress, the second edition by the same text but engraved), the third edition by Theodoor Galle in Antwerp after 1600 (with address 'Theod. Galle excud.'); and the fourth by D. and T. Brown in London in 1694 (numbered before artist's name)

Hendrik Hondius I published in 1610 a book with almost the same title ('Pictorum aliquot celebrium, præcipué Germaniæ Inferioris', in English: 'Effigies of some celebrated painters, chiefly of Lower Germany') that contained 69 engraved portraits of painters. Hondius' work included in its first part reworked versions of 22 of the portraits of the 1572 publication. The portrait of Hieronymus Cock (often numbered 23) was not included in Hondius' publication.

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  Title page of Pictorum aliquot celebrium Germaniae inferioris effigies
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  page 4 HUBERTO AB EYCK
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  page5 IOANNES AB EYCK
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  page 6 HIERONIMO BOSCHIO
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  page 7 ROGERO BRUXELLENSI
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  page 8 THEODORO HARLEMIO
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  page 9 DE BERNARDO BRUXELLENSI.
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  page 10 IOANII MABUSIO
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  page 11 IOACHIMO DIONATENSI
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  page 12 QUINTINUS MESIUS. ANVER:PIANUS
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  page 13 LUCÆ LEIDANCO
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  page 14 DE JOANNE HOLLANDO
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  page 15 IUSTO CLIVENSI ANVERPIAN
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  page 16 MATTHIÆ COCO ANVERPIAN.
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  page 17 HENRICO BLESIO
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  page 18 DE IOANNE MAIO
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  page 19 PETRO COECKE. ALOSTANO
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  page 20 IOANNES SCORELLUS BATAVUS
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  page 21 LAMBERTO LOMBARDO
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  page 22 PETRO BRVEGEL
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  page 23 DE GUILIELMO CAIO
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  page 24 LUCÆ GASSELO HELMONTANO
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  page 25 FRANCISCO FLORO ANVERPIANO
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  page 26 HIERONYMO COCO

Naming and implicit origin

In the captions of the prints in the "Effigies", most artists have their origin or birthplace explicitly indicated, for example:

• Francisco Floro Antverpiano → Frans Floris (from Antwerp)
• Lamberto Lombardo Leodiensi → Lambert Lombard (from Liège)
• Guilielmo Caio Bredano → Willem Key (from Breda)

In some cases, such an indication is missing, presumably because the artist’s name already refers to his origin, as in:

• Hieronimo Boschio → Jheronimus Bosch (from ’s-Hertogenbosch)
• Lucae Leydano → Lucas van Leyden (from Leiden)
• Petro Bruegel → Pieter Bruegel (from Bruegel)

This pattern suggests that Lampsonius did not add an additional indication when the name itself was considered sufficiently identifying. For interpreting Pieter Bruegel’s origin, this is noteworthy: there is no mention such as Antverpiano or Bredano, which may indicate a deliberate reference to a place named Bruegel.

Karel van Mander, who used Lampsonius’ "Effigies" as a source, implicitly confirmed this pattern in his Schilder-boeck (1604) by introducing Bruegel as uytnemende Schilder van Brueghel.