GERMAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



nKich he engat^ed, as well as in the engravings ; but Jean 

 Ifrael, the fecond fou of Theodore, who alfo alTiiled, and 

 Succeeded iiiin, was far lefs fucccfsful. 



The brothers John, Theodore, and Tfraol, completed the 



plate 



Boiflard's Roman Antiquities, and added fcveral 



to tlie coUertion of portraits of illuftrious perfons, which 

 tlieir father had begun to form. 



Among other portraits, we find thofe of Gerard Mer- 

 eator the celebrated gcogi-apher, and Daniel Specklin, both 

 in 4to. 



The bell hiftorical works of Jean Theodore are, a fet of 

 the elements, coniifting of four plates in 410. " The Return 

 of Rebecca," after baltliafar Peru/.7:i. "A Marcli of 

 Soldiers," and " A March of Soldiers conducting Pri- 

 fonefs," fomctimcs called " The Triumph 0} Death," both 

 of the frieze form, and by fome fuppofed to be after Titian. 

 " The Village Fete," with a Latin infcription, after Sebald 

 Beham, and "The Fountain of Youth," after the faine, 

 both of the frieze form ; and a fet of levcnty-four plates 

 for " Profcenium vhx humane five Emblematum, &:c." 

 acconrtpanied with explanations. 



Jean Kelertal'-r was bom at Drefden in the year 1 530 ; 

 under whom he iludied is not known, but he continued en- 

 graving in his native citv, until fome time about the dole of 

 the fixleenth centur)-. He engraved fome plates after Jean 

 Marie NolTeni, who was fculptor and architect to the eledtor 

 of Saxojy, of which the following are ti.ofe of moll im- 

 portance. 



" Nimrod building the Tower of Babel ;" " The De- 

 ftrutlion of the Babylonian Empire;" " Tlie Empire of 

 Rome," in tl)e back ground of which is the death of Ciiefar. 

 " The Empire of the Church," « here the Pope is reprefented 

 receiving the homage of Charlemagne ; and " An Allegory," 

 where a winged ligure of Death, with two trumpets, is fup- 

 portiiig a globe, all of tlie 410. fiz?. 



Tobias Stimmer was born at SchaiFliaufen towards the 

 clofe of the fixteenth century, but refided chiefly at Straf- 

 burg, where he was patronized by the margrave of Baden, 

 and became both a painter and engraver of eminence. His 

 engravings are chiefly on wood, and from hi? own coni- 

 politions ; the engravings in the " Novix Tobias Stimmeri 

 lacrorum Bihliorum figure verfibus Latinis et Germank-is 

 expolit.e," are from compofitions by Stimmcr, though he 

 was aflilled in the engraving bv his brother Chriilopher, and 

 his pupil CliriRopher Maurer. Stimmer undcrftood the 

 hiwian ligure very well, and compofed with lo much talle 

 and judgment, that Rubens has been heard to declare, that 

 fie iiad Uudied Stimmer's bible with attention and with 

 preat benefit, and Sandrart, wlio relates tliis anecdote, calb 

 the book, "A Trealury of Science for the art of Painting. ' 



In the earlier part of his career, Stimmer was unfortimate, 

 and palTed fome of his bell days in painting the facades of 

 houfes at Frankfort on the Maine, and at Straftnirg. But 

 let no man of talent, who poiiefTes the means of fhewing his 

 talent, defpair ; it was the pleafure he received from fome 

 of thcfe, which accidentally caught his notice, that occa- 

 tioned tlie margrave to engiige Stimmer in his fervice, and 

 became die foundation of his fortune. For him our artiil 

 painted the hiliory of his ancellors, and the margrave's own 

 portrait to this day afferts the fuperior powers of Stimmer 

 in this department of art. 



We have given his monograms in our fecor.d plate, and his 

 principal work, excepting his bible, is " The Annunciation," 

 jti folio. 



Jean Chriilopher Stimmer was born at Scha.fFhauftnin the 

 year 1552, and died at Paris fome time about tlie commcnce- 

 nutnt oi the I'uccecding centur^'. He was the brother and dif- 



ciple of Tobias, and engraved on Trood a great number of his 

 compofitions with confidcrable fuccefs, for lie drew with 

 abihty, and hatched his engravings in a bold, but mellow ftyle. 



After the death of his brother, Chriftoplier travelled to 

 Paris, where he performed fome engravings, and was com- 

 monly known by the name of " the Swifs," and where he 

 died, leaving behind him a fon, wlio alfo engraved on wood a 

 confrderable number of tabk-ts after Francis Chaveau. 



Clirillophcr ufed the complicated cyplier which will be 

 found among thofe of our monograms of the ftco.id plate of 

 the German fchool, and his beft engravings are thofe whicli 

 follow ; — A fet for the New Teilament, with the Apoca- 

 lypf*-, printed at Stralhurg in the year 1588. A colleclion 

 of portraits of the fcholars and theologians of the German 

 nation, printed alfo at Strafbiirg by Bernard Jobio, in 1591. 

 " Icones AfFabrae ;'' a coUeClion of emblems printed in the 

 fame year, all of the 4to. fize ; and a capital print of an hifto- 

 rical portrait of a kneeling figure, infcribed " Contrafacite 

 Bildnus des Hemn Lafarus von Schwende," Sec. 



Joll or Jodocus Amman or Ammon, deligner and engraver 

 on wood and on copper, was bom at Zurich in 1539, and 

 died at Nuremberg in 1591. Not meeting Avith encourage- 

 ment in his youth at Zurich, he travelled to Nuremberg, a 

 city where the arts were reported to be in a flourilhing ftate, 

 the year he became of age, and in 1577 renounced the 

 rights of a citizen of Zurich, in order the more firmly to at- 

 tacii himfelf to his adopted country-. Stnitt fays of him, 

 that if patience and afiiduity of themfelves could conllitute 

 an artill, Amman would well defervethat character, from the 

 multitude of deligiis which he made, and the great number of 

 plates which he engraved, amounting, according toHuber, to 

 more than five hundred and fifty. But tliough a great genius 

 may be improved bv cultivation, yet it is equally certain that 

 neither pains nor lludy can create a great genius. Much 

 merit, however, was certainly poiTelTed by our artill ; who 

 lived at a time when almoil every book which appeared was 

 ornamented with prints, and was employed by moll of the 

 g^eat bookiellers, efpecially Siegmund Feyerabandt of Frank-^ 

 fort. 



The engravings of Joll Amman upon copper are not 

 equal to thofe which he performed for the letter prefs. His 

 invention was not ven' copious : his figures are tolerabV 

 proportioned, and the detail of his dra^ring is careful and 

 inoderatelv correft ; animals in particular he touched with 

 great fpirit. His llyle of engraving is neat and decided, 

 yet if his lines are more regular, tliey are lefs free than 

 thofe of many of his predeceltors. He affixed Tarious marks 

 to his performances, as may be feen in otir fecond plate of 

 the nionogi-ams, &c. of the German fchool of engraving. 



His principal works on copper arc, a fet of t\\ elve illuf- 

 trious women, beginning with Eve, under the title of " Eva 

 die Geberirln ;" a fet of figures of v.unnors, fmall uprights, 

 marked Joll Amman inventor 1590 ; the fet confills of eight, 

 and there is a fet of eigiit others, fighting with fwords and 

 flicks. The four feafons, and the four elements, dated 

 1569. A fet of the twelve months, perfonified, and a fet of 

 fixtecn friezes of hunting fubjefts ; a coiUiderable mimber 

 of etchings of fubjefts of piety, after Wincellaus Jamitzer ; 

 the bombardment of a city, dated 1570, in folio, and the 

 portrait of Carparis di Colignon, D. Callilione, marked 

 Joll Ammon Figv.rinus, 1573. 



His beft engravings on wood are, *• The Creation of 

 Man;" " The Diet of the Empire," both in folio, the 

 latter an oval. " The Marriage at Cana," in quarto ; a fet 

 of one hundred and' fifteen, entitled, " De omnium hbera- 

 lium mechanicarum ct fcdentarium artium genera contincns, 

 Sec. Edit, per Hoilmanti Scoperura Francof. 1564." This 



n-v/rk 



