Joris Hoefnagel

1542 – 1601

Flemish illuminator and draughtsman. He was the last of the great Flemish manuscript illuminators and the foremost topographical draughtsman of his age. His work forms a critical link between earlier manuscript illumination and ornamental design and the genre of floral still-life painting, which emerged in northern Europe at the end of the 16th century. He was the son of a diamond merchant. He travelled abroad, making drawings from archaeological subjects, and was a pupil of Jan Bol at Mechelin. He was afterwards patronized by the elector of Bavaria at Munich, where he stayed eight years, and by the Emperor Rudolph at Prague. He is famous for his miniature work, especially on a missal in the imperial library at Vienna; he painted animals and plants to illustrate works on natural history; and his engravings (especially for Braun's Civilates orbis terrarum, 1572, and Ortelius 's Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1570) give him an interesting place among early topographical draughtsmen. His son, Jacob Hoefnagel was also a draughtsman.

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