6. Jan Wierix (ca. 1549- ca. 1615) after
Crispin Van Den Broeck (1524- ca. 1590)

Perseus and Andromeda, as an Allegory of William of Orange Saving the Dutch Republic from the Spanish Sea Monster

(click on image to print)
Wierix, Perseus and Andromeda

Perseus and Andromeda, as an Allegory of William of Orange Saving the Dutch Republic from the Spanish Sea Monster

Engraving, ca. 1577, 330 x 412 mm. plus an additional plate text at the bottom of 36 mm., Mauquoy-Hendrickx 1654 ii/iii. Generally fine, just slightly uneven impression, either on very heavy laid paper or laid down, trimmed on the platemark, which is visible in places. A highly complex print showing the chained Andromeda center, the dragon decorated with a Hapsburg shield, Perseus (representing William of Orange) in the sky with a shield inscribed "Wisdom", port and mountain scenes in the background, dead and dying and severed heads and, at the right, 16 female figures holding coats of arms of the provinces of Holland. There are also, in the water near the dragon, three figures holding masks, perhaps symbolizing the southern provinces loyal to Spain. Below are three columns of poetry in Dutch and, from a separate plate, three more columns in German, Latin and French translating the first verse of the Dutch text. A privilege is present but no signature. Mauquoy-Hendrickx thinks the attribution to Jan Wierix "plausible," and gives the design to Maerten de Vos (!), while mentioning that the original drawing is in the Biblioltheque Nationale and attributed to Crispin van de Broek by F. Lugt and G. Vallery-Radot. However, the print was once thought to be by Cornelis Cort and another authority suggests that the engraving is by Jacob de Gheyn I after a drawing by Willem van Haecht I. What is undisputed is that the print is rare (particularly in this state before the erasure of the arms on the shields) and that it is an important and visually impressive document of the Dutch and Spanish wars.