LOW COUNTRIES, ENGRAVERS OF THE. 



and a man and a woman (landing by tlic fuk of it, a fmall 

 plate lengthways. 



John Baptilta Barb6 was born at Antwerp in the year 

 1585. He iludicd engraving in the fcliool of the Wcirixcs, 

 and after attaining a competent maftery of the graver, and 

 fucccfsfully imitating the dry and elaborate neatnefs ofhisin- 

 ftruftors, he travelled to Italy for improvement. 



No artift of that day, with genuine profeffional objefts in 

 view, covjd travel to Italy altogether in vain. Barbe made 

 confiderable improvement in his knowledge and tafte of 

 forms, but was not able to emancipate himfelf from the 

 fliackles of his earlier education. 



Accordingly we find that in his latter engravings, though 

 his fio-ures are drawn with tolerable correftnefs, and his ex- 

 tremities well marked, his chiarofcuro is flat and pov/erlcfs, 

 and his manual execution painfully neat, dry, and infipid. 

 He worked with the graver only ; fometimes defigning and 

 inventing his own fubjefts ; and at others, working after 

 the originals of other mailers. 



Of the former kind are " The Annunciation," infcribed 

 " Spiritus Sanftus ;" " The Nativity," infcribed '< Pcperit 

 Filium ;" " The Arrival of the holy Virgin and St. Jofepli 

 at Bethlehem ;" " The holy Virgin and Child," furrounded 

 by a garland of flowers, and infcribed " Beatus Venter/' 

 &c. ; " Jefus Chrift on the Mount of Olivesf" "Our 

 Saviour with the Difciplcs at Emmaus ;" " The Cruci- 

 fixion," infcribed " Protie Fili mi," &c. ; " St. Ignatius 

 kneeling before an Altar ;" and a fet of four emblematical 

 fubjeds, entitled " The Chnftian Virtues," all of fmall 

 dimenfions. 



After various other Majlers. — Barbe engraved " The Holy 

 Virgin fitting at the Foot of an ancient Monument, with 

 the Infant Chrid and Jofeph," in fmall folio, after J. B. 

 Paggi, (one of his bell prints) ; another " Holy Family," 

 in 4to. after Rubens, alfo in the improved ftyle of our en- 

 graver, and certainly a meVitorious work ; the proof im- 

 preffions of which (taken before the name of Rubens was 

 infcribed on the plate), are rare, and bear a high price. A 

 fet of twenty-four in i2mo. of the Life and Miracles of 

 Father Gabr.el Maria, founder of the Anncnciades, after 

 Ab. van Diepenbeck ; and " The Holy Virgin feated on a 

 throne with the Infant Chrift," after Francifco Frauk, in 

 fmall folio, and efteemed one of the mafterpieces of our 

 artift. 



William van NieulaHt was born at Antwerp in the year 

 1585. He became the difciple of Roland Savery, but 

 after quitting his mailer he went to Rome, and refided 

 three years m that city with his countryman Paul Bril. 

 He afterwards returned to the Low Countries, and took up 

 his refidence a" Amllerdam, where his pitlures were held in 

 high eftimation, and where he died in the year 1635. 



Nieulant etched fevcral plates of landicapes, both from 

 his own defigns and thofe of Paul Bril. They are executed 

 in a flight free ftyle, and often worked upon afterward with 

 the graver, to harmonife the lights, and ftrengthen the 

 malTes of ftiadow. 



Among the etchings of this artift, the following are held 

 m raoft eftecm, -vn. a fet of fixty, of views in Italy, orna- 

 ir.ented with figures. Tv.-o landfcapes with ruins, into one 

 of which is introduced the ftory of the good Samaritan, 

 and in the other Tobit and the angel, both in folio, 

 from P. Bril. Two marine fubjefts, one with ftiepherds on 

 the fea-fhore, and the other with veffels, and a fortrefs on a 

 rock, from the fame painter; " The Ruins of the Temple 

 of Juno, in the Capitol ;" " The Ruins of the Temple of 

 Venus ;" " A View of the Triumphal Arch of Septimus 

 SeveruSj" all in folio ; and the three bridges acrofs the 



Tiber, with views of the city of Rome, engraved on three 



large plates, from hij own drawings. 



William fhould not be confounded with Adrian van Nieu- 

 lant, a latidfcape painter of fome eminence, who was likewife 

 a native of Antwerp, and who died at Amftcrdam in the 

 year 1601. 



Peter HolRein was born at Haerlem in the year 1582, and 

 refided in Holland at the commencement of the fcventeenth 

 century. He occafionally praclitcd the art of painting on 

 glafs ; but was chiefly an engraver of portraits, among the 

 chief of which are a fet of twenty-fix of the plenipotentiary 

 minifters of Munfter ; John Saenredam, and Jacob vander 

 Burchius, both in ovals ; Fabius Chifi, a negotiator for 

 peace from Weftphalia, afterwards pope Alexander VII. ; 

 John Erneft Pictoris, a counfcUor of the eleflor of Saxony ; 

 all of 4to. fize ; John Hiiydecooper, burgomafter of the 

 city of Amfterdam; .lohn Reyner, hiftoriogrKphcr for Mun- 

 fter ; Conftantius Sohier ; and Albert Vinkcnbrink, a 

 fculptor of Amfterdam ; all in folio. 



Cornelius Holftein was likewife born at Hafrlem in the 

 year 1620, and was the fon of the preceding arlill, ot whona 

 he learned the elements of art. He painted hillory with a 

 moderate degree of fuccefs. He likewife eiicraved fome 

 fubjetts from his own defigns, and fcveral of the plates for 

 the cabinet of Gerard Reynft, a magittrate and connoifTcur 

 of Ainllerdam. Yet of his engravings we are able to nam^- 

 only the following : a bacchanalian fubjeft, of children at 

 play, forming a long frieze, engraved on fix plates, a very 

 rare print ; and a female feated, ornamented with jewels, 

 fuppofed to be the portrait of Ifabella, marchionefs of 

 Mantua, from a pifture by Correggio, or Julio Romano ; 

 engraved on a large folio plate for the cabinet of Reynfl. 



Peter van der Borcht was born at Bruffels in the year 

 1540. The period of his life has not been recorded, but 

 he appears to have refided in his native city, except, perhaps, 

 occafionally in that of Antwerp, til! fome years after the 

 commencement of the fucceeding century. 



He acquired fome reputation in landfcapc painting, but 

 applied himfelf to etching with ftill greater affiduity, and 

 produced a confiderable number of prints, moft of which 

 may be properly termed hiftorical landfcapes. They art- 

 etched with little care, in a rough and licentious kind of 

 ftyle, and the figures which are introduced are by no means 

 corredtly drawn. 



Though the works of this artift manifeft great fertihty of 

 invention, they evince no very profound knowledge of com- 

 pofition, nor perception of the fufceptibilities of the en- 

 graver's art, and, therefore, but httlc judgment. He 

 ufually marked his prints with his initials, or a monogram, 

 which^will be found in our third plate of thofe ufed by 

 the engravers of the Low Countries. 



Of the numerous works of this artiil, it may fuffice 

 to mention the following : — The Hillory of Elias and 

 Elijah, in ovals of 4to. fize. A fet of landfcapes, with 

 fubjefts from the New and Old Teftanicnts, in 410. 

 Rural feftivals, in folio ; a company of archers re^ 

 galing ; a peafant's wedding, both in folio. A land- 

 scape with the hiftory of Hagar and Ifhmael, in large 

 folio ; a folio print, entitled " Emblemata facra e prseci- 

 puis utriufque Teflamenti hiftoriis concinnata ;" and a fet 

 of one hundred and forty plates, from Ovid's meta- 

 morphofes, in 4to. ; printed and publifhed at Antwerp by 

 Theodore Galle. 



Henry van der Borcht, the elder, was born at Bruffels, 



A.D. 1583, and died at Frankfort in 1 660, where his family 



were obliged to feek an afylum from the political troubles 



which agitated their native country. His {atbcr, on dilcover- 



I ing 



