1620c Johann Sadeler (1550-1600) Christoffel; Engraving Prophet David with Harp - Religious Art

11.5 x 8 cm

Dutch text to verso

The Sadelers were descended from "chasers," engravers of armour, from Aalst. Jan de Saeyelleer or Sadeleer had three sons, all usually called "Sadeler":[2] Jan I (1550 Brussels - 1600 Brussels or possibly Venice),[3] Aegidius I (c. 1555 Brussels - c. 1609 Frankfurt am Main) and Rafael I (1560/61 Antwerp - 1628 or 1632).

Jan was in Antwerp by 1572; it was then the centre of the printmaking world, with hugely productive workshops producing work for publishers with excellent distribution arrangements throughout Europe. In that year he became a master of the artists' Guild of Saint Luke, and married in Antwerp Cathedral. By 1569 or 1570 he was doing work for the publisher Christopher Plantin. His younger brother Rafael I joined him there, and they continued to work closely together, moving to Cologne in about 1579, but continuing to visit Antwerp. The disruptions of the Dutch Revolt scattered all the Antwerp artists across Northern Europe, and after the siege of Antwerp in 1585 Jan and Rafael worked in several German cities - Mainz, Frankfurt-am-main, Munich without settling for long, before they went to Italy in 1593, where Jan may have died.