Johannes Wierix 1549-c.1620

half-length, wearing a doublet and lace collar

Johannes Wierix was the eldest son of the painter and cabinet maker Antonius I Wierix (c.1520/24-c.1572) and, like his brother, Hieronymus, most probably trained as a goldsmith and is recorded as an engraver in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke.  Except for a short period in Delft between 1575 and 1579, Johannes worked in Antwerp until moving to Brussels at the turn of the century.  His drawings and miniature portraits, which were not designs for prints but made for sale in their own right, were greatly admired at the time for their meticulous technique.  Miniatures like the present work are recorded as having passed at least twice through sales in Antwerp during the seventeenth century and many more times in Amsterdam during the following two centuries.  Of the seventeen recorded miniatures, eleven are dated between 1587 and 1613 (see Zsuzsanna van Ruyven-Zeman, 'Drawings by the Engraver Johannes Wierix', Master Drawings, 2004, Volume 42, no.3, pp.237-257)