Life of Lambert Lombard (1565); and Effigies of Several Famous Painters from the Low Countries (1572)

"Among the earliest written texts on the history and theory of Netherlandish art, these two key writings are now available together in an English translation"--
This book is a new English translation of the first substantial art theoretical text written and published in the Low Countries: the earliest published intellectual biography of Netherlandish artist, architect, and draftsman Lambert Lombard (1506-1566). The biography details the nature and ideal practice of Netherlandish art, focusing on Lombard's intellectual curiosity, interest in antiquity, study of the human body, and generosity as a teacher. The book also provides Dominicus Lampsonius' inscriptions for the series of engraved portraits, Effigies of Several Famous Painters from the Low Countries, each juxtaposing a portrait of a Netherlandish artist with Latin inscriptions about their character or work. An introduction details background on the works, author, and Netherlandish art. Annotation ©2022 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
Among the earliest written texts on the history and theory of Netherlandish art, these two key writings are now available together in an English translation.
Among the earliest written texts on the history and theory of Netherlandish art, these two key writings are now available together in an English translation. Dominicus Lampsonius’s The Life of Lambert Lombard (1565) is the earliest published biography of a Netherlandish artist. This neo-Latin account of the life of the painter, architect, and draftsman Lambert Lombard of Liège offers a theoretical exposition on the nature and ideal practice of Netherlandish art, emphasizing Lombard’s intellectual curiosity, interest in antiquity, attentive study of the human body, and exemplary generosity as a teacher. This volume offers the first English edition of The Life of Lambert Lombard, complemented by a new translation of the inscriptions Lampsonius composed to accompany the Effigies of Several Famous Painters from the Low Countries (1572), a cycle of twenty-three engraved portraits of Netherlandish artists developed in collaboration with the print publisher Hieronymus Cock. Together, The Life of Lambert Lombard and the Effigies established frameworks for a distinctly Netherlandish history of art. Responding to a growing sense of Netherlandish cultural and political identity on the eve of the Dutch Revolt, these texts proposed a critical alternative to Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists and its Italian model of art historical development, celebrating local ingenuity and skill. They remain the starting point for any history of the northern Renaissance.