Anna Roemers Visscher (c. 2 February 1583 – 6 December 1651) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

Biography

Anna Roemers Visscher was the eldest daughter of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

merchant and poet

Roemer Visscher Roemer Pieterszoon Visscher (1547 – 19 February 1620) was a successful Dutch merchant, the first Dutch underwriter and writer of the Dutch Golden Age. Life Visscher was born in and lived in Amsterdam and was an important and central figure of ...

and the sister of

Maria Tesselschade Visscher Maria Tesselschade Roemers Visscher (25 March 1594 – 20 June 1649), also called Maria Tesselschade Roemersdochter Visscher (), was a Dutch poet and glass engraver. Life Tesselschade was born in Amsterdam, the youngest of three daughters of po ...

. Her family's economic and social status in Amsterdam enabled Visscher to be schooled in languages,

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

glass engraving Engraved glass is a type of decorated glass that involves shallowly engraving the surface of a glass object, either by holding it against a rotating wheel, or manipulating a "diamond point" in the style of an engraving burin. It is a subgroup of ...

and other arts. Visscher married Dominicus Booth van Wesel in 1624. In 1646, they moved with their two sons Roemer and Johan to

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

. Visscher lived during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

when women poets were often praised for who they were more than for their literary work. She was amongst the group of artists, writers and musicians who formed the

Muiderkring The Muiderkring (Muiden Circle) was the name given to a group of figures in the arts and sciences who regularly met at the Muiderslot, castle of Muiden near Amsterdam during the first half of the 17th century, or the Dutch Golden Age, Golden Age o ...

or Muiden Circle. She was highly admired by the artistic elite such as P. C. Hooft,

Jacob Cats Jacob Cats (10 November 1577 – 12 September 1660) was a Dutch poet, humorist, jurist and politician. He is most famous for his emblem books. Early years Jacob Cats was born on 10 November 1577 in Brouwershaven. Having lost his mother at ...

Joost van den Vondel Joost van den Vondel (; 17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch playwright, poet, literary translator and writer. He is generally regarded as the greatest writer in the Dutch language as well as an important figure in the history of Wes ...

Constantijn Huygens Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist C ...

and others. They called her a muse, the second

Sappho Sappho (; ''Sapphṓ'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; ) was an Ancient Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sapph ...

, a fourth grace and more, and often dedicated works to her. Jacob Cats, for example, dedicated ''Maagdeplicht'' (''The Duties of a Maiden'') to Visscher. The

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

painter

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

dedicated an engraving of his ''Susanna and the Elders'', executed by Michel Lasne (ca. 1617–18) under Rubens's supervision, to Anna Visscher; the inscription praises her virtue. A second engraving, executed by Lucas Vorsterman (1620) after another of Rubens's ''Susanna and the Elders'', carries the same dedication from Rubens to Visscher. Visscher is particularly regarded for her diamond-point

. Additionally, she had an apparent interest in

emblem book An emblem book is a book collecting emblems (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. Emblem books are collection ...

s, as she translated into Dutch thirteen

epigrams An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia. ...

from Georgette de Montenay, Georgette de Montenay's ''Emblèmes, ou devises chrestiennes'' of 158
Manuscripts Catalogue
She also contributed poetry to the 1618 emblem book, ''Silenus Alcibiadis, Sive Proteus''

by

. She was a contemporary and friend of

Anna Maria van Schurman Anna Maria van Schurman (November 5, 1607 – May 4, 1678) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter, engraver, poet, classical scholar, philosopher, and Feminism, feminist writer who is best known for her exceptional learning and her defence of fem ...

. Visscher died in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

, at the home of her sister Maria.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visscher, Anna 1583 births 1651 deaths 16th-century Dutch people 16th-century Dutch women 16th-century Dutch artists 17th-century Dutch poets 17th-century Dutch women writers Dutch women poets Muiderkring Translators from French Writers from Amsterdam Glass engravers Dutch women engravers 17th-century Dutch engravers 17th-century Dutch women artists 17th-century translators Dutch glass artists 16th-century women artists

Biography

References

Further reading

External links