Hans Collaert

Hans Collaert (1545 - 1628) or Jan Collaert I or Johannes Collaert was an early Flemish engraver, father of the engravers Jan Collaert II and Adrian Collaert. The sons would later work in the workshop of Philip Galle and marry Galle's daughters. The workshops of the Collaert and Galle families were close together and their works are hard to distinguish.

Hans Collaert is the first of a family of Antwerp engravers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He is the son of a carpet designer Jannen Collaert with whom he works a few years to prepare drawings for glassmakers, tapestries, embroideries and jewelry. Hans Collaert is active in Brussels between 1530 and 1560.

His first engraving was printed by Jérôme Cock in 1555. Collaert and his wife Anna van der Heyden have four children, two of whom become engravers: Adriaen (c. 1560-1618) and Jan (II) (circa 1561-1620). Two of his grandsons have also become engravers. The two brothers Jan and Adriaen Collaert associate their workshops with that of Philippe Galle of which they marry the girls.

Hans Collaert was born in Brussels. After working some years in his father's studio, he went to Rome to perfect himself in his art. His engravings after Rubens are very highly esteemed. After 1560 he was active in Antwerp.

Hans Collaert sometimes signs with the monogram H. C. F. composed of a H. joined to a F. with a small C in the middle of the H. For Hans Collaert fecit.

His pupils are Babara van den Broeck, daughter of Crispin van den Broeck and Herman Coblent, whose engravings are so neat and so similar to hers that they are often confused.

Working:
The most wanted are the Annunciation, Isaac, Samson, The Shepherds, The Life of St. Francis or the St. John the Baptist.
View of Eggevoort, h × b: 138 × 199 mm. Eggevoort was a village near Brussels. This is a series of engravings that give a glimpse of cities in the vicinity of Brussels.
Knowledge (Cognitio), h × b: 111 × 71 mm. At the source there is a woman holding a torch in her hands. Thanks to the light, this woman gained insight into the knowledge that the book contained. This work was made in 1557.
Vulcanus (Vulcanis), h × b: 70 × 40 mm. On this bronze is Vulcan, the god of forge and fire depicted. This engraving is therefore strongly influenced by the Renaissance.
Sussana and the elders, h × b: 202 × 262 mm. The work Sussana and the elders were made in 1579. On this engraving, you can see how Sussana is burned by two older men while taking a bath in her garden. She tries to keep them at a distance. This source is based on a story from the Bible. At the bottom of the engraving there is a Latin caption. At the source we see that the woman is naked. The men wear clothes that descend from the classical age. In the background there is a building coming from the Renaissance. This work by Collaert thus has a lot of characteristics of the Renaissance.

For Hans (I) Collaert the most famous engravings are:
The Extreme Unction, drawing with the monogram Hansc attributed to Jan Collaert (I) may be Pieter de Jode the Elder
Orpheus and the nine Muses, engraving, Museum Herzog Anton Ulrich
Frieze with Birds and Flowers, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Massachusetts)
Venus and Cupid, engraving, Achenbach Foundation for graphic arts, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
The Shunammite Woman Riding out to Elisha, engraving, 1579, after Maarten de Vos, Achenbach Foundation for graphic Arts
Jewelery Drawings, 1582, National Gallery of Art, Washington
The Religious Love between the Abbot and the Monk, circa 1560, National Gallery of Art, Washington
Pictura Poetica, continuation of 7 engravings on copper signed with the monogram HC, XVIème
Views of the environs of Brussels, 24 etchings engrain edited by Hans van Luyck, 1575-1580, Maison du Roi, Brussels
The Life of the Virgin, engraving after Crispin van den Broeck, 1576, British Museum.
https://hisour.com/artist/hans-collaert/