Aegidius Sadeler

Egidius Sadeler

AEgidius Sadeler in Het Gulden Cabinet, engraved by Pieter de Jode II after a self-portrait for Jan Meyssens
Born 1570
Antwerp
Died 1629
Prague
Nationality Southern Netherlands, Bohemia
Known for Engraving

Egidius Sadeler or Aegidius Sadeler; Gilles Sadeler (1570–1629) was an engraver from the Southern Netherlands active at the court of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor in Prague.

Engraving of Rudolf in 1602
Allegory on the reign of Emperor Matthias (1557-1619), 1614

Sadeler was born in Antwerp in a Sadeler family of engravers. He was the son of Emmanuel de Sayeleer and the nephew of Aegidius I, Johan I en Raphael Sadeler.[1] He was trained by his uncle Johan I, becoming a member of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1589. He was active in Munich the next year in 1590, in Rome in 1593, in Naples and then again in Munich in 1594-1597. From 1597 he settled in Prague where he became court engraver for Rudolf II and made engraved portraits of notables and engravings after artworks there, most notably paintings by Bartholomeus Spranger, Roelant Savery, Hans von Aachen, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, and sculptures by Giambologna and Adriaen de Vries.

His early engavings were mostly faithful copies of works by Albrecht Dürer in the Imperial collection and copies of paintings by notable Italian painters such as Raphael, Tintoretto, Parmigianino, Barocci and Titian or by Northern painters who worked there, such as Paul Bril and Denys Calvaert. In Prague he also engraved portraits of the notables of Rudolf's court, and collaborated with Spranger, Joseph Heintz the Elder and Jacobus Typotius.

After Rudolf II died he enjoyed the favour and protection of the two succeeding Emperors, Matthias and Ferdinand II.[2][3] According to Michael Bryan, "He used the graver with a commanding facility, sometimes finishing his plates with surprising neatness, when the subject required it; at other times his burin is broad and bold. His plates are very numerous, representing historical subjects, portraits, landscapes, &c. some of them from his own designs, many of which are much esteemed, particularly his portraits, which are executed in an admirable style. The following are considered his best prints:

Portraits

Various subjects from his own designs

Sadeler died in Prague in 1629. He had many pupils, including Wenzel Hollar and Joachim von Sandrart, who wrote his biography.[4]

References

  1. Aegidius Sadeler in the RKD
  2. Michael Bryan's A Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Volume II, 1816 (Egidius or Giles Sadeler)
  3. Het Gulden Cabinet, 1682, p 482
  4. Aedidius Sadeler in Sandrart's Teutsche Academie, 1662
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