1612 ‘Free Vice to become Virtuous’, Van Veen (1556), quarto, hand coloured, classical, emblem

Otto van Veen (1556 - 1629); Engraved by his brother Gijsbert van Veen

To flee vice is the beginning of virtue, and to have got rid of folly is the beginning of wisdom…

25.4 x 19.7 cm

Later hand colour.

Original from 1612.

Text to verso in Texts in Latin, French, Spanish, Italian and Dutch.

Otto van Veen was a painter and humanist from Leiden who fled to the southern Netherlands in 1572 because of the political turmoil. In Liege he studied a few years under Dominicus Lampsonius, and then left for a five-year stay in Italy. After his return he settled in Antwerp. Vaenius always tried to maintain favour with the Court. Until the return of his pupil Rubens from Italy, he was the leading painter in Antwerp.

He worked for Rudolf II in Prague, was court painter of Alexander Farnese and Albrecht and Isabella. He was the most influential tutor of Pieter Paul Rubens. In his later years he produced emblem books, his first being Q. Horatii Flacci emblemata. His designs were mostly engraved by his younger brother Gysbrecht.

Gijsbrecht or Gijsbert van Veen was a Dutch Renaissance painter and engraver, the brother of Otto van Veen. Born in Leiden, he travelled through Italy as a young man and settled in Brussels, where he died.

Light age toning to margins.