or is a book written by the Flemish writer and painter

Karel van Mander Karel van Mander (I) or Carel van Mander IKarel van Mander
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History ...

first published in 1604 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 ...

in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

, where van Mander resided. The book is written in 17th-century Dutch and its title is commonly translated into English as 'The Book of Painters' or 'The Book of (or on) Painting' and sometimes as 'The Book on Picturing'. consists of six parts and is considered one of the principal sources on the history of art and art theory in the 15th and 16th century

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

. The book was very well received and sold well. Karel van Mander died two years after its publication. A second posthumous edition, which included a brief, anonymous biography of van Mander was published in 1618. This second edition was translated by Hessel Miedema into English and published in 1994-1997 together with a facsimile of the original and five volumes of notes on the text.

Summary

is divided into six parts that have separate title pages and are indexed. The parts are: * The foundations of the noble and free art of painting () * Lives of the illustrious ancient painters including Egyptians, Greek and Romans () * Lives of the modern or contemporary illustrious Italian painters () * Lives of the illustrious Netherlandish and German painters () * Commentary on the Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidius Nasso () * Depiction of figures ()

Historiographic background

The history of early Netherlandish painting was first described by the Italian

Lodovico Guicciardini Lodovico Guicciardini (19 August 1521 – 22 March 1589) was an Italian writer and merchant from Florence who lived primarily in Antwerp from 1542 or earlier. He was the nephew of historian and diplomat Francesco Guicciardini. ''Description of ...

in his (1567; The Description of the Low Countries). This book formed a source for

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

's famous biographical accounts of painters in his book ''

Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' () is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-century Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari, which is considered "perhaps the most famous, and even today the ...

'', often referred to as the . That tradition took little account of the geographic topology of the

and the

van Eyck Van Eyck or Van Eijk () is a Dutch language, Dutch toponymic surname. ''Eijck'', ''Eyck'', ''Eyk'' and ''Eijk'' are all archaic spellings of modern Dutch ("oak") and the surname literally translates as "from/of oak". However, in most cases, the fam ...

brothers were considered the fathers of Netherlandish painting concentrated in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. Karel van Mander intended to correct this misconception by listing all the famous early Netherlandish painters. He encountered many difficulties in obtaining accurate information, due to the political and religious unrest at the time. The biographies in the are similar in style and format to Vasari's . Karel van Mander digresses only rarely from the format: starting per painter with an overview of the childhood years and a list of teachers, followed by some career information and concluding with a list of notable works. The second edition includes a biography of van Mander himself that Miedema believes was written by his brother, who may have been with him on his deathbed. Other candidates have been proposed as authors of the biography. Recently his son

Karel van Mander the Younger Karel van Mander the Younger (1579–1623) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and the son of Karel van Mander. Biography The younger van Mander was born in Kortrijk. According to Houbraken, he learned to paint from his father and became a good p ...

was identified as a possible author. His son would have relied on biographical information that Karel van Mander had written himself as well as on his own recollections and notes. The information in the biographical sketch is not entirely reliable but is still regarded as the best source of information on van Mander's life.H. Duits, 'Het leven van Karel van Mander. Kunstenaarsleven of schrijversbiografie?'
De zeventiende eeuw 9 (1993), nr. 2, p. 117-136 Van Mander was writing in a country where

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

s were powerful and religious art was regarded with suspicion. The market for religious subjects was quickly replaced in favor of genre scenes and historical allegories. It became fashionable to choose politically correct subjects such as stories too old to be offensive to either Protestants or Catholics. The city of Haarlem needed to reinvent itself after losing its attraction as a pilgrimage site for St. Bavo. Its leaders commissioned paintings depicting the city's glorious past, such as in the story of the crusade against

Damietta Damietta ( ' ) is a harbor, port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, from the Mediterranean Sea, and about north of Cairo. It was a Cath ...

, which was the basis for the Coat of arms of Haarlem. Artists and writers helped update the local source of inspiration for art. Van Mander contributed to this effort by supplying a list of biographies of ancient painters in ''Lives of Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman painters'' and his commentaries on

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's Metamorphoses and the depiction of figures.

The six parts of the

The foundations of the noble and free art of painting

The book begins with a book on the "foundation" of the art of paintings. This introductory book has fourteen chapters on art theory listing such subjects as landscapes, animals, drapery, and arrangements of subjects.

Lives of the illustrious ancient painters including Egyptians, Greek and Roman

s biographies of ancient painters is almost entirely based on Pliny's ''

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' () is a Latin work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work' ...

'' and offers no new material.

Van Mander's list of ancient Greek painters

* Agatharchus * Androcydes * Antiphilus *

Apelles Apelles of Kos (; ; fl. 4th century BC) was a renowned Painting, painter of ancient Greece. Pliny the Elder, to whom much of modern scholars' knowledge of this artist is owed (''Natural History (Pliny), Naturalis Historia'' 35.36.79–97 and '' ...

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A ...

Aristides of Thebes Aristides of Thebes () was an ancient Greek painter. Life He lived in the 4th century BC. He had a reputation for expressiveness: for example, a picture of his representing a dying mother's fear lest her infant should suck death from her breast be ...

* Cimon of Cleonae * Echion *

Euphranor AGMA Apollon Patroos Euphranor. Euphranor of Corinth () (middle of the 4th century BC) was a Greek artist who excelled both as a sculptor and as a painter. Pliny the Elder provides a list of his works including a cavalry battle, a Theseus, and t ...

* Eupompus * Melanthius * Nicomachus of Thebes * Pamphilus of Amphipolis * Panaenus * Parrhasius * Pausias * Polyeidos *

Polygnotus Polygnotus (; ''Polygnotos'') was an ancient Greek painter from the middle of the 5th century BC. Life He was the son and pupil of Aglaophon. He was a native of Thasos but was adopted by the Athenians and admitted to their citizenship. Dur ...

* Protogenes * Theon of Samos * Timarete * Timomachus * Zeuxis

Lives of the modern or contemporary illustrious Italian painters

Van Mander based this part of the on Vasari's . The had been published half a century earlier. For this reason he only translated about half of Vasari's biographical sketches, and he added Italian artists from his years in Italy, such as

Tintoretto Jacopo Robusti (late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594), best known as Tintoretto ( ; , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized th ...

who became known after Vasari's work was published. Van Mander also purposefully editorialized Vasari's biographies by reinterpreting some of Vasari's material and by adding to Vasari's text with a view to updating it.Amy Golahny, "Insights into the Dutch Vasari: Van Mander's Life of Titian"
In: Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies 2001 What follows is a list of Vasari sketches that van Mander translated and included in his work: *

Cimabue Giovanni Cimabue ( , ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian p ...

* Andrea Tafi * Gaddo Gaddi * Margaritone *

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

, with Puccio Capanna * Stefano di Giovanni and

Ugolino di Nerio Ugolino di Nerio (1280? – 1349) was an Italian Painting, painter active in his native city of Siena and in Florence between the years 1317 and 1327. He was a follower of Duccio di Buoninsegna, from whose Maestà (Duccio), Maestà some of his ...

Pietro Lorenzetti Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Ambrogio, he introduced Realism (arts), naturalism into Sienese School, Sienese art. In the ...

(Pietro Laurati) *

Buonamico Buffalmacco Buonamico di Martino, otherwise known as Buonamico Buffalmacco (active c. 1315–1336), was an Italian Renaissance painter who worked in Florence, Bologna, and Pisa. Although none of his known work has survived, he is widely assumed to be the ...

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Ambrogio Lorenzetti (; – after 9 August 1348) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active from approximately 1317 to 1348. He painted ''The Allegory of Good and Bad Government'' in the Sala dei Nove (Salon of Nine or Council Ro ...

(Ambruogio Laurati) *

Pietro Cavallini Pietro Cavallini (1259 – ) was an Italian painter and mosaic designer working during the late Middle Ages. Biography Little is known about his biography, though it is known he was from Rome, since he signed ''pictor romanus''. His first nota ...

Simone Martini Simone Martini ( – July 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena. He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style. It is thought that Martini was a p ...

with Lippo Memmi * Taddeo Gaddi * Andrea Orcagna (Andrea di Cione) * Tommaso Fiorentino * Lippo *

Masaccio Masaccio (, ; ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great List of Italian painters, Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaiss ...

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, Catholic priest, priest, linguistics, linguist, philosopher, and cryptography, cryptographer; he epitomised the natu ...

Antonello da Messina Antonello da Messina (; 1425–1430February 1479), properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, but also called Antonello degli Antoni and Anglicized as Anthony of Messina, was an Italian painter from Messina, active during the Italian Early Ren ...

Domenico Ghirlandaio Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio (also spelt as Ghirlandajo), was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of the so-c ...

* Antonio del Pollaiuolo *

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

Andrea del Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio ( , , ; born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni; – 1488) was an Italian sculpture, sculptor, List of Italian painters, painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently bec ...

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, ; ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (probably 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian Renaissance painter mostly working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. He also worked in Rome for a ...

* Francesco Francia *

Pietro Perugino Pietro Perugino ( ; ; born Pietro Vannucci or Pietro Vanucci; – 1523), an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael became his most famou ...

* Luca Signorelli *

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

* Giorgione da Castelfranco *

Antonio da Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for so ...

* Raffaellino del Garbo *

Baldassare Peruzzi Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi (7 March 1481 – 6 January 1536) was an Italian architect and painter, born in a small town near Siena (in Ancaiano, ''frazione'' of Sovicille) and died in Rome. He worked for many years with Bramante, Raphael, and l ...

* Pellegrino da Modena (Pellegrino Aretusi) * Andrea del Sarto * Giovanni Antonio Licino *

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- ...

and Maturino da Firenze (''Maturino Fiorentino'') * Bartolommeo Ramenghi (''Bartolomeo Da Bagnacavallo'') * Franciabigio *

Francesco Mazzola Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 150324 August 1540), also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino (, , ; "the little one from Parma"), was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bo ...

* Jacopo Palma (Il Palma) *

Lorenzo Lotto Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian Renaissance painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He painted mainly altarpie ...

Giulio Romano Giulio Pippi ( – 1 November 1546), known as Giulio Romano and Jules Romain ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the ...

Sebastiano del Piombo Sebastiano del Piombo (; – 21 June 1547) was an Italian painter of the High Renaissance and early Mannerism, Mannerist periods, famous as the only major artist of the period to combine the colouring of the Venetian School (art), Venetian scho ...

(Sebastiano Viniziano) * Perino Del Vaga * Giovann'Antonio Lappoli * Baccio Bandinelli * Jacopo da Pontormo *

Giovanni da Udine 150px, Portrait in Vasari's Vite Giovanni Nanni, also Giovanni de' Ricamatori, better known as Giovanni da Udine (1487–1564), was an Italian painter and architect born in Udine. A painter also named ''Giovanni da Udine'' was exiled from his na ...

* Francesco Rustichi * Francesco detto de' Salviati * Daniello Ricciarelli da Volterra * Taddeo Zucchero *

Michelangelo Buonarroti Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspi ...

(Michelangelo) *

Francesco Primaticcio Francesco Primaticcio (; April 30, 1504 – 1570) was an Italian Mannerism, Mannerist Painting, painter, architect and sculpture, sculptor who spent most of his career in France. Biography Born in Bologna, he trained under Giulio Romano ( ...

* Tiziano da Cadore (Titian) *

* Paulo Caliary, student of Giovanni Francesco Caroto *

Jacopo Bassano Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510 – 14 February 1592), known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, and took the village as his surname. Having trained in the workshop of his father, Fran ...

* Frederick Zucchero * Frederick Barozio *

* Giuseppe Cesari * Other Italian painters worthy of mention;

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci ( , , ; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother Agostino Carracci, Agostino and cousin Ludovico Carracci, Ludovico (with whom the Ca ...

(Caratz), Michael Agnolo van Caravaggio * List of painters he knew during his time in Italy, and afterwards;

Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521 – c. 1580) began his career as an Italian Mannerist painter but later adopted the reformist naturalism of Girolamo Muziano in the 1560s and 70s. He was active in Rome in the mid 16th century. Nativ ...

Antonio Tempesta Antonio Tempesta, also called il Tempestino (1555 – 5 August 1630), was an Italian painter and engraver, whose art acted as a point of connection between Roman Baroque, Baroque Rome and the culture of Antwerp. Much of his work depicts major ba ...

, Ventura Salimbeni, Marco Pino, Andrea Boscoli

Lives of the illustrious Netherlandish and German painters

Van Mander is less known for his translated work on Italian art than he is for his biographical sketches of Netherlandish painters. What follows is the list of already famous painters from the low countries discussed in the book. * Jan and

Hubert van Eyck Hubert van Eyck (; – 18 September 1426) was an Early Netherlandish painter and older brother of Jan van Eyck, as well as Lambert and Margareta, also painters. The absence of any single work that he can clearly be said to have completed contin ...

* Rogier van Brugghe *

Hugo van der Goes Hugo van der Goes ( – 1482) was a Flemish painter who was one of the most significant and original Early Netherlandish painters of the late 15th century. Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduced i ...

* Albert van Ouwater and Albert Simonsz *

Geertgen tot Sint Jans Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1465 – c. 1495), also known as Geertgen van Haarlem, Gerrit van Haarlem, Gerrit Gerritsz, Gheertgen, Geerrit, Gheerrit, or any other diminutive form of Gerald, was an Early Netherlandish painter from the northern Lo ...

Dirk Bouts Dieric Bouts (born – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlier) until ...

Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden (; 1399 or 140018 June 1464), initially known as Roger de le Pasture (), was an Early Netherlandish painting, early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commis ...

Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (before 1470 – 1533) was a Northern Netherlandish designer of woodcuts and painter. He was one of the first important artists working in Amsterdam, at a time when it was a flourishing and beautiful provincial ...

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

* Cornelis Engelbrechtsz * Bernard van Orley *

Lucas van Leyden Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very ac ...

* Ian den Hollander * Quentin Matsys *

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

Cornelis Cornelisz Kunst Cornelis Cornelisz. Kunst (1493, Leiden – 1544, Leiden), was a Dutch Renaissance painter. Biography According to Karel van Mander, who claimed he lived 1493–1544, he was the best among his painter-brothers, as son and pupil of his father ...

* Lucas Cornelisz de Kock * Jan Joest van Calcar * Pieter van Aelst *

Joachim Patinir Joachim Patinir, also called Patenier ( – 5 October 1524), was a Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish Renaissance painter of History painting, history and Landscape painting, landscape subjects. He was Flanders, Flemish, from the ar ...

Herri met de Bles Herri met de Bles, also known as Henri Bles, Herri de Dinant, Herry de Patinir,(c. 1490 – after 1566), was a Flemish Northern Renaissance and Mannerist landscape painter, native of Bouvignes or Dinant (both in present-day Belgium). The name ...

* Lucas Gassel van Helmont *

Lambert Lombard Lambert Lombard (; c. 1505 – August 1566) was a Renaissance painter, architect and theorist for the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. During his career he worked for Jan Gossaert in Middelburg and trained Frans Floris. Biography Lombard wa ...

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; ; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...

* Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen * Jan Mabuse * Augustijn Ioorisz *

Joos van Cleve Joos van Cleve (; also Joos van der Beke; c. 1485–1490 – 1540/1541) was a leading painter active in Antwerp from his arrival there around 1511 until his death in 1540 or 1541. Within Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he combines the tr ...

* Aldegraef * Swart Jan * Frans Minnebroer with Frans Verbeeck, Vincent Geldersman, Hans Hoogenbergh, Frans Crabbe, Claes Roegier, Hans Kaynoot den dooven, Cornelis Enghelrams, Marcus Willems, and Iaques de Poindre, and Gregorius Beerings * Jan Mostaert * Adriaen de Weerdt * Hendrick and Marten van Cleef * Anthonis Mor * Jacob de Backer *

Matthys Cock Matthys Cock or Matthijs Wellens de Cock (c. 1509/10 – 1540/1548) was a Flemish landscape painter and draughtsman. He is known for his landscapes, marine art and architectural drawings.Hieronymus Cock *

Willem Key Willem Adriaensz Key (1516 – 5 June 1568) was a Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish Renaissance painter. Biography Key was born in Breda, Netherlands. In 1529 he was known to be a pupil of Pieter Coecke van Aelst in Antwerp. ...

Pieter Brueghel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder ( , ; ; – 9 September 1569) was among the most significant artists of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaking, printmaker, known for his landscape art, landscape ...

* Jan van Scorel * Aertgen van Leyden *

Joachim Beuckelaer Joachim Beuckelaer (c. 1533 – c. 1570/4) was a Flemish painter specialising in market and kitchen scenes with elaborate displays of food and household equipment.

* Frans Floris *

Pieter Aertsen Pieter Aertsen (1508, Amsterdam – 2 June 1575, Amsterdam), called ''Lange Piet'' ("Tall Pete") because of his height, was a Dutch painter in the style of Northern Mannerism. He is credited with the invention of the monumental genre scene, whi ...

Maarten van Heemskerck Maarten van Heemskerck (born Maerten Jacobsz van Veen; 1 June 1498 – 1 October 1574), also known as Marten Jacobsz Heemskerk van Veen, was a Dutch portrait and religious painter, who spent most of his career in Haarlem. He was a pupil of Jan ...

* Richard Aertsz * Hubert Goltz * Pieter Vlerick van Cortrijck and Carel van Yper * Anthonie van Montfoort *

Lucas de Heere Lucas de Heere or Lucas d'Heere (Ghent, 1534 – possibly Paris, 29 August 1584) was a County of Flanders, Flemish Portrait painting, painter, Watercolor painting, watercolorist, print artist, biographer, playwright, poet and writer.

* Jacques Grimmaer * Cornelis Molenaer * Pieter Balten * Joos van Liere *

Pieter Pourbus Pieter Jansz. Pourbus (c. 1523–1584) was a Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish Renaissance painter, draftsman, engineer and cartographer who was active in Bruges during the 16th century. He is known primarily for his religious and p ...

and

Frans Pourbus the Elder Frans Pourbus the ElderGaëlle Brackez, ''Frans Pourbus de oudere (1545-1581) Een blik op zijn leven en oeuvre volume i: tekst'', Masterproef voorgelegd aan de Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte, Vakgroep Kunst -, Muziek- en Theaterwetenschappen ...

with

Frans Pourbus the younger Frans Pourbus the Younger or Frans Pourbus (II) (Antwerp, 1569 – Paris, 1622)Frans Pourbus (II)
at the Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, Marc Gerard and Marcus Garret (c. 1520 – c. 1590) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, print designer and etcher who was active in his native Flanders and in England. He practised in many genres, including portrait ...

* Christoffel Swarts * Michael Coxcie *

Dirck Barendsz Dirck Barendsz or Theodor Barendszoon (1534–1592) was a Dutch Renaissance painter from Amsterdam who traveled to Italy in his youth to learn from the Italian masters, most notably Titian. Biography He was trained by his father, a painter known ...

Lucas Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, or the Lucas, a 19th-century African-American singing group * Lucas, a 1960s Swedish pop group formed by Janne Lucas Perss ...

and Marten van Valckenborgh *

Hans Bol Hans Bol or Jan Bol (16 December 1534 – 20 November 1593), was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter, Miniature art, miniature painter, print artist and draftsman.

Frans Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of '' François'' or '' Franciscus''. One cognate of Frans in English is '' Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572� ...

and Gillis Mostart with Jan Mandijn * Marinus van Reymerswaele * Hendrik van Steenwijk I * Bernaert de Rijcke * Gielis Coignet *

Joris Hoefnagel Joris Hoefnagel or Georg Hoefnagel (1542, in Antwerp – 24 July 1601, in Vienna) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter, printmaker, Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniaturist, draftsman and merchant. He is noted for his illustrat ...

* Aert Mijtens * Joos van Winghen * Marten de Vos Van Mander also described contemporary painters who he felt were of note. The following is a list of all of these painters. * Hans Vredeman de Vries * Stradanus * Gillis van Coninxloo *

Bartholomeus Spranger Bartholomeus Spranger or Bartholomaeus SprangerBartholomeus Spranger
at the Netherlands Institute for Art H ...

* Cornelis Ketel * Gualdrop Gortzius * Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt *

Hendrick Goltzius Hendrick Goltzius (, ; born Goltz; January or February 1558 – 1 January 1617) was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter. He was the leading Dutch engraver of the early Baroque period, or Northern Mannerism, lauded for his ...

* Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom * Jan Soens *

Hans von Aachen Hans von Aachen (1552 – 4 March 1615) was a German painter who was one of the leading representatives of Northern Mannerism. Hans von Aachen was a versatile and productive artist who worked in many genres. He was successful as a painter of p ...

* Peter Candid *

Paul Bril Paul Bril (1554 – 7 October 1626) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter and printmaker principally known for his Landscape art, landscapes.Nicola Courtright. "Paul Bril." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. ...

and Matthijs Bril * Cornelis van Haarlem, with Gerrit Pietersz Sweelink * Jacob de Gheyn II *

Otto van Veen Otto van Veen (also known by his Latinized names Otto Venius or Octavius Vaenius; 1556 – 6 May 1629), was a Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, and Humanism, humanist active primarily in Antwerp and City of Brussels, Brussels in the late ...

, Jan Snellinck, Tobias Verhaecht, Adam van Noort, Hendrick van Balen, Sebastian Vrancx, Joos de Momper *

Hans Rottenhammer Johann Rottenhammer, or Hans Rottenhammer (1564 – 14 August 1625), was a German painter. He specialized in highly finished paintings on a small scale. Biography He was born in Munich, where he studied until 1588 under Hans Donauer the Eld ...

, Hans Donauer,

Adam Elsheimer Adam Elsheimer (18 March 1578 – 11 December 1610) was a German artist working in Rome, who died at only thirty-two, but was very influential in the early 17th century in the field of Baroque paintings. His relatively few paintings were sma ...

, Lodewijk Toeput * Joachim Wtewael *

Abraham Bloemaert Abraham Bloemaert (25 December 1566 – 27 January 1651) was a Dutch painter and printmaker who used etching and engraving. He initially worked in the style of the " Haarlem Mannerists", but by the beginning of the 17th-century altered his style ...

* Pieter Cornelisz van Rijck * Francesco Badens * David Vinckboons * Cornelis Floris de Vriendt, Paulus Moreelse, Michael Mierevelt, Frans de Grebber, Jacob Savery, Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen,

Barend Barend or (somewhat dated spelling) Barent is a Dutch male given name and occasional middle name. As of 2014, there are over 4,000 men in the Netherlands with this as their first name, and nearly 3,000 with it as their middle name. It was likely d ...

and Paulus van Someren, Cornelis van der Voort, Everard Crynsz van der Maes, Jan Antonisz. van Ravesteyn, Aart Jansz Druyvesteyn, Jacques de Mosscher, Thonis Ariaensz (Alkmaar), Claes Jacobsz van der Heck (Alkmaar), Pieter Gerritsz Montfoort (Delft), Pieter Diericksen Cluyt (Delft) * Joan Ariaensz van Leiden, and Hubert Tons van Rotterdam

Commentary on the ''Metamorphoses'' of Publius Ovidius Nasso

Van Mander had received a humanist training and had earlier published a translation of Ovid's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

''. In the he provided a commentary on the ''Metamorphoses''. Van Mander accepted the Renaissance view that there was no conflict between classical mythology and Old Testament history and that mythology was able to convey evangelical truths and lessons. For instance, the myth of the Titans assaulting Jupiter's throne could be interpreted as an illustration of the Christian dictum that pride is the cause of all evil. The allegorized interpretation of the ''

'' of Ovid in the is inspired by this Renaissance view of classical mythology.Karel van Mander in: Marijke Spies, Ton van Strien and Henk Duits, 'Amsterdam University Press ''Rhetoric Rhetoricians and Poets, Studies in Renaissance Poetry and Poetics'', 1999, p. 93-97 This part was well-received and was later sold as a separate book.

Depiction of figures

The final book about the depiction of figures contains a list of various animals, birds and other objects that can have meaning for the painter to include in his arrangement. This book includes some pagan rituals for use in historical allegories. Included before the index to the ''Metamorphoses'', it is meant as an extra guide for that book.

The indexes

Because the pages are numbered only on the right-hand page, the indexes have an addendum to the page number to indicate the front (recto) or back (verso) of the "folio" to be able to locate text more efficiently. Looking up painters remains difficult because the indexes use first names rather than last names, since the last names in use by the painters themselves were not consistent in all regions where the painters were active. Many painters were better known by their nicknames than their given names. For this reason, the spelling of the names used in the text does not always match the names in the indexes.

Legacy

Karel van Mander - Schilderboeck - Title page of fourth part on Netherlandish and High-German painters

The introduced Dutch and Flemish artists to Italian art and encouraged them to travel to Italy. The was very influential on art writing in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Cornelis de Bie Cornelis de Bie (10 February 1627 – ) was a Flemish '' rederijker'', poet, jurist and minor politician from Lier. He is the author of about 64 works, mostly comedies. He is known internationally today for his biographical sketches of Flemish ...

(, 1662), Joachim von Sandrart (, 1675), Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten (, 1678), Filippo Baldinucci (, 1681) and

Arnold Houbraken Arnold Houbraken (28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was a Dutch people, Dutch Painting, painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of Dutch Golden Age painters. Life Houbraken was sent first to learn ''threadt ...

(, 1720) are some of the early biographers who used material from the for their biographical sketches of Netherlandish painters or as a basis for developing their own art theory. The ''Lives of the illustrious Netherlandish and German painters'' is the longest book in the . It has historically been and still is the most important book for historians looking for details on (early) Netherlandish painters.Walter S. Melion, ''Shaping the Netherlandish Canon: Karel Van Mander's Schilder-Boeck'', University of Chicago Press, 1991 This book is still the most-cited primary source in biographical accounts of the lives of many artists he included. Of most interest to historians is his criticism of the work of these artists, especially when he describes the painting style, use of color, location and owner of the paintings, thus becoming a valuable source for art

provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

. The is included in the ''Basic Library'' of the ''dbnl'' (

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of Dutch Literature), which contains what its compilers believe to be the 1,000 most important works in

Dutch literature Dutch-language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, ...

from the Middle Ages to today.

Translation

The ''Lives of the illustrious Netherlandish and German painters'' was translated into modern Dutch and English by Miedema and published in the 1990s. In his attempt to provide a systematic overview of the ''Lives'', Miedema includes a long list of the sources on which Karel van Mander relied as he did for his own modern translation, and includes prints, photos of paintings, sculpture, architecture and stained glass window cartoons to illustrate the text. He also publishes new archival evidence. ''Karel van Mander. Den Grondt der Edel Vry Schilderkonst'', by Hessel Miedema, Utrecht, 1973. 2 vols.