Hans Speckaert - Portrait of Cornelis Cort

Cornelis Cort ( March 1578) was a Dutch engraver and draughtsman. He spent the last 12 years of his life in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, where he was known as ''Cornelio Fiammingo''.

Biography

Born in

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

or Edam, Cort may have been a pupil of Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert in the 1550s in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

. His first known engravings were published in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

around 1553, though it is thought that he remained working in the Northern Netherlands. The publisher was Hieronymous Cock, under whom Cort may have apprenticed as well. A letter of 1567 from Dominicus Lampsonius to the artist

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

described Cock as Cort's master. Plates, which Cort produced for Cock were inscribed with Cort's name only after he left his apprenticeship with Cock. Cort moved to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and lived in the house of Titian in 1565 and 1566. He produced engravings based on Titian's works. Among these are the well-known copperplates of "

St Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known for his translation of the Bible i ...

in the Desert", the "Magdalen", "

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...

", " Diana and Actaeon", and "Diana and

Callisto CALLISTO (''Cooperative Action Leading to Launcher Innovation in Stage Toss-back Operations'') is a reusable VTVL Prototype, demonstrator propelled by a small 40 kN Japanese LOX-LH2 rocket engine. It is being developed jointly by the CNES, French ...

". From Italy he wandered back to the Netherlands, but he returned to Venice soon after 1567, proceeding thence to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he produced engravings from all the great masters of the time. In Rome he founded the well-known school in which, as Bartsch tells us, the simple line of Marcantonio was modified by a brilliant touch of the burin, afterwards imitated and perfected by

Agostino Carracci Agostino Carracci ( , , ; also Caracci; 16 August 1557 – 22 March 1602) was an Italian painter, printmaker, tapestry designer, and art teacher. He was, together with his brother, Annibale Carracci, and cousin, Ludovico Carracci, one of the fo ...

in Italy and Nicolaes de Bruyn in the Netherlands. Before visiting Italy, Cort had been content to copy Michael Coxcie, Frans Floris,

Heemskerk Heemskerk ( ) is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located in the Kennemerland region. History The town was formed during the Middle Ages. In an official deed from the year of 1063, the town was ...

, Gillis Mostaert, Bartholomeus Spranger and Stradanus. In Italy he gave circulation to the works of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

, Titian,

Polidoro da Caravaggio Polidoro Caldara, usually known as Polidoro da Caravaggio ( – 1543), was an Italians, Italian painter of the Mannerist period, "arguably the most gifted and certainly the least conventional of Raphael's pupils", who was best known for his now- ...

, Baroccio, Giulio Clovio, Muziano and the Zuccari. Cort visited

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

between 1569 and 1571 probably working for the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

family. He returned to Titian in Venice in 1571-1572. He spent the last year of his life in Rome, where he died. His connection with Cock and Titian is pleasantly illustrated in a letter addressed to the latter by Dominick Lampson of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

in 1567. Cort is said to have engraved upwards of one hundred and fifty-one plates. The art collector

George Cumberland George Cumberland (27 November 1754 – 8 August 1848) was an English art collector, writer and poet. He was a lifelong friend and supporter of William Blake, and like him was an experimental printmaker. He was also an amateur watercolouri ...

wrote in 1827 thatCumberland, George, ''An Essay on the Utility of Collecting the Best Works of the Ancient (London, Payne and Foss, 1827
page 6
online at books.google.co.uk, accessed 12 July 2008

References

External links

*
Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints
', a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which includes material on Cornelis Cort (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cort, Cornelis 1530s births 1578 deaths People from Hoorn Artists from North Holland Dutch draughtsmen 16th-century Dutch engravers Renaissance engravers