Thomas de Leu or Leeuw or Le Leup or Deleu (1560–1612) was a French engraver, publisher, and print dealer of

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

origin.Grivel 1996b.Préaud 1987, pp. 220–222.

Life

He was the son of a print dealer in

Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, H ...

and began his career in Antwerp, where he worked for Jean Ditmar (c. 1538–1603) and was influenced by the Wierix.Benezit 2006. Sometime after 1576 and before 1580 he went to Paris to work for the painter and engraver Jean Rabel (1540/50–1603). On 22 August 1583 he married Marie Caron, daughter of

Antoine Caron Antoine Caron (1521–1599) was a French master glassmaker, illustrator, Northern Mannerist painter and a product of the School of Fontainebleau. He is one of the few French painters of his time who had a pronounced artistic personality. His wo ...

, one of the principal painters of the Second

School of Fontainebleau The School of Fontainbleau (french: École de Fontainebleau) (c. 1530 – c. 1610) refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau that were crucial in forming the No ...

. Although it has been stated that he was thereby the brother-in-law of the engraver Léonard Gaultier, this is probably not the case. In the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

he managed to switch from the side of the Catholic League to that of Henry IV. As a result, he became enormously wealthy, running a highly productive workshop and publishing numerous prints by other artists. His apprentices included Jacques Honnervogt (''fl'' 1608–1635) and

Melchior Tavernier Melchior Tavernier (1594 – May 1665) was a French engraver, printmaker and print publisher. Heritage, early life, and training He was the son of Gabriel II Tavernier (1566–1607), an engraver, who in 1573 moved with his father Gabriel I Tav ...

. On 22 May 1605 he married Charlotte Bothereau. His daughter Charlotte married Claude Vignon.Bassani 1996. He died in Paris.

Work

His first dated engraving is ''Justice'' (1579; Linzeler no. 57). He produced more than 300 plates of portraiture, including ones of Catherine de' Medici (Linzeler no. 255) and

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ( ...

, and many engravings on religious subjects, such as ''Christ in Blessing'' (1598; Linzeler no. 7) and a set of 25 plates depicting ''The Life of Saint Francis''. He also provided illustrations for books. File:Portrait of Catherine de Médicis by Thomas de Leu - Gallica 2010 (adjusted).jpg,

Catherine de Médicis Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King H ...

File:Portrait of Sir Francis Drake Wellcome L0005524.jpg, up

, after File:KarlIIIvonBourbon01.jpg, Charles III de Bourbon File:God creates the sun, moon and stars. Line engraving by Thoma Wellcome V0034178.jpg, ''God creates the sun, moon, and stars'' File:God, suspended in the clouds, creates light. Line engraving Wellcome V0034177.jpg, ''God, suspended in the clouds, creates light''

Notes

Bibliography

* Bassani, Paola Pacht (1996). "Vignon, Claude" in Turner 1996, vol. 32, pp. 509–510. * Benezit (2006). "Leu, Thomas de", vol. 8, p. 915, in ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists''. Paris: Gründ. . * Grivel, Marianne (1986). ''Le Commerce de l'estampe à Paris au XVIIe siècle''. Geneva: Droze
Listings
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

. * Grivel, Marianne (1996a). "Gaultier, Léonard" in Turner 1996, vol. 12, pp. 203–204. * Grivel, Marianne (1996b). "Leu, Thomas de" in Turner 1996, vol. 19, p. 257. * Linzeler, André; Aldhémar, Jean (1932–1938). ''Inventaire du fonds français: graveurs du seizième siècle''. Paris: Maurice Le Garrec. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale
Listings
at WorldCat. * Préaud, Maxime; Pierre Casselle; Marianne Grivel; Corinne Le Bitouze (1987). ''Dictionnaire des éditeurs d'estampes à Paris sous l'Ancien Régime''. Promodis. . * Turner, Jane, editor (1996). ''The Dictionary of Art'', reprinted with minor corrections in 1998. New York: Grove. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leu, Thomas De 16th-century French engravers Flemish engravers 1560 births 1612 deaths 17th-century French engravers