{{Short description|Flemish engraver (1553–1619)}} [[File:Hieronymus Wierix, Ambrosius Francken (I) (After) - The seduction of man.jpg|thumb|300px|''The seduction of man'' from the series on the fall and salvation of man, with text by [[Willem van Haecht]]]] '''Hieronymus Wierix''' (1553–1619) was a Flemish engraver, draughtsman and publisher. He is known for his reproductive engravings after the work of well-known local and foreign artists including [[Albrecht Dürer]]. Together with other members of the [[Wierix family]] of engravers he played an important role in spreading appreciation for Netherlandish art abroad. He also created works that supported at various times the Protestant or Catholic causes in the Southern Netherlands.<ref name=carl>Carl Van de Velde. "Wierix." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 6 March 2025</ref><ref name=clifton>J. Clifton, 'Adriaen Huybrechts, the Wierix Brothers, and Confessional Politics in the Netherlands', Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 52 (2001), pp. 104-125</ref>
==Life== Hieronymus Wierix was born in Antwerp as the son of Anton Wierix I (c. 1520/25–c. 1572).<ref name=ox>Carl Van de Velde. "Jan (Hans, Johannes) Wierix." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 5 August 2019</ref> His father Anton was registered in the [[Guild of St. Luke]] in Antwerp as a painter in the Guild year 1545–6 but is occasionally also referred to as a cabinet maker. It is not believed that Anton I taught Hieronymus or his other two sons [[Johannes Wierix|Johannes]] and Anton II. Hieronymus and Johannes are believed to have trained with a goldsmith while Anton II likely trained with an older brother, probably Johannes.<ref name=carl/> After his father's death Hieronymus was placed under the guardianship of Sanson Catsopyn and Jheronimus Mannacker.<ref>Les estampes des Wierix: conservées au Cabinet des estampes de la Bibliothèque royale Albert Ier : catalogue raisonné, enrichi de notes prises dans diverses autres collections, 第 3 篇，第 2 期 封面 Marie Mauquoy-Hendrickx Bibliothèque royale Albert Ier, 1983, p. 550 {{in lang|fr}}</ref> [[File:Bearing the Body of Christ MET DP830183.jpg|thumb|300px|left|''Bearing the Body of Christ'']]
Hieronymus was deemed a child prodigy as he started to engrave in 1565 at age 11 and produced excellent copies after Dürer a year later. He worked only briefly for the [[Plantin Press]] in Antwerp, realizing about 10 engravings in the period 1569—1571.<ref name=plan>{{cite book |last1= Bowen |first1=Karen L.|last2=Imhof |first2=Dirk|date=17 April 2008 |title=Christopher Plantin and Engraved Book Illustrations in Sixteenth-Century Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CP8lSx9i83EC&pg=PA142|page=48|publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge|isbn=9780521852760}}</ref> He was admitted as a 'wijnmeester' (son of a master) in the [[Guild of St. Luke]] in Antwerp in the guild year 1572-1573.<ref name=RKD>[https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/84225 Hieronymus Wierix] at [[The Netherlands Institute for Art History]] {{in lang|nl}}</ref> His first engraving as independent master dates back to 1577. During the period of 1577–1580, he made a lot of prints for [[Willem van Haecht the Elder]] and Godevaard van Haecht. These works of him were mainly allegorical and political and reflected his sympathy for those who rebelled against the Spanish suppression of non-Catholic creeds.<ref>[https://www.wga.hu/bio_m/w/wierix/hieronym/biograph.html/ WIERIX, Hieronymus by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx] Retrieved on 8 March 2025</ref> Like his brother Jan, he regularly made reproductions after designs by [[Maerten de Vos]] and other Flemish designers, such as [[Johannes Stradanus]] and [[Chrispijn van den Broeck]]. He also made many small devotional prints. His works were further published by other Antwerp publishers such as [[Philips Galle]], [[Hans van Luyck]], [[Gerard de Jode]] and Jan Baptist Vrints.<ref name=plan/> [[File:Christ's Robe Surrounded by the Instruments of the Passion MET 270006.jpg|thumb|''Christ's Robe Surrounded by the Instruments of the Passion'']]
Listed as [[Lutheran]]s at the time of the [[Fall of Antwerp]] in 1585, the family members seem to have reconverted to Catholicism soon thereafter.<ref name=carl/> The three Wierix brothers gained a reputation for their disorderly conduct as evidenced by a 1587 letter by prominent publisher [[Christophe Plantin]] to the Jesuit priest Ferdinand Ximenes in which he complained that whoever wanted to employ the Wierix brothers had to look for them in the taverns, pay their debts and fines and recover their tools, since they would have pawned them. Plantin also wrote that after having worked for a few days the brothers would return to the tavern.<ref name=carl/> During one of his drinking bouts he injured the head of a certain Clara van Hove who died from her injuries. He spent about two years in jail as a result.<ref name=RKD/>
His apprentices were Abraham van Merlen, Jan Baptist van den Sande the elder, and Jacob de Weert. His daughter Christina married the engraver [[Jan Baptist Barbé]], who later had his other daughter Cecilia (his sister-in-law) declared insane in order to claim her inheritance, which included a set of Dürer drawings owned by her father.<ref name=RKD/>
==Work== Wierix is mostly known for his He is known for his reproductive engravings after the work of well-known local and foreign artists including Albrecht Dürer and delicate religious prints on a very small scale. In comparison to his brothers Jan and Anton II, he was the more prolific publisher of his own prints, ultimately publishing about 650 in total, compared to Anton's 235 and Jan's 125.<ref name=plan/> ==Selected works== '''[[Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen]]'''<ref>[http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/28819/The-Decision-to-Grow-Wheat-in-a-Forest-Area-for-More-Profit/Johannes-Wierix/ Works by Hieronymus Wierix] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320230555/http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/28819/The-Decision-to-Grow-Wheat-in-a-Forest-Area-for-More-Profit/Johannes-Wierix |date=2018-03-20 }} Retrieved on 20 Mar 2018</ref> * ''The Decision to Grow Wheat in a Forest Area for More Profit'', {{circa}} 1575 – 1585. * ''Portrait of Volcxken Dierckx'', 1579 * ''Saint Ambrose'', 1586 * ''Conservat cuncta Cupido'', 1600 * ''Portrait of Catherine-Henriette de Balzac Dentraigues, Marquise de Verneuil'', 1600
'''[[National Gallery of Art]], Washington'''<ref>[https://www.artsy.net/artist/hieronymus-wierix/ Hieronymus Wierix, 1553–1619] Retrieved on 20 Mar 2018</ref> * ''Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi'' * ''Dum pierulo fugendum ...'' * ''O quam tristis et afflicta ..'' * ''S. Lydtwina Virgo Schiedamensis ...''
==References== {{reflist|20em}} ==External links== {{Commons-inline}} {{ACArt}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Wierix, Hieronymus}} [[Category:1553 births]] [[Category:1619 deaths]] [[Category:Flemish draughtsmen]] [[Category:16th-century Flemish engravers]] [[Category:17th-century Flemish engravers]] [[Category:Artists from Antwerp]] [[Category:People from the Spanish Netherlands]]