Background
Hoefnagel was born in 1542 in Antwerp, Belgium, the son of Jacob Hoefnagel, a dealer in diamonds and luxury goods such as tapestries, and his wife Elisabeth Vezelaer, daughter of the Antwerp mint master Joris Vezelaer.
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Joris Hoefnagel
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also known as
Georg Hoefnagel
draftsman merchant painter printmaker miniaturist
Education
Hoefnagel received a comprehensive humanistic education. He spoke, in addition to his native Dutch, several languages and was able to write poetry and play various musical instruments. He lived from 1560 to 1562 in France, where he attended the universities of Bourges and Orléans.
Career
In France Hoefnagel probably made his first landscape drawings. He was forced to leave France in 1563 due to religious unrest and he returned to Antwerp. He left soon thereafter for Spain, where he resided from 1563 to 1567 and was active on behalf of the family business. He made various sketches of places in Spain and was particularly fascinated with Seville, the primary colonial trading port of Spain, where he could see many exotic animals and plants. He returned to Antwerp in 1567 but may have visited his hometown in between on business. He travelled to England in 1568 and resided in London for a few months where he built friendships with other Flemish businessmen. Hoefnagel was a very versatile artist and is known for his landscapes, emblems, miniatures, topographical drawings and genre and mythological paintings. Part of Hoefnagel's artistic works was kept in the Dutch Republic by Constantijn Huygens when bequeathed to the Huygens family at Hoefnagel's death. These works were seen by Dutch artists and exercised an important influence on the development of Dutch still life and naturalist art. He died in Vienna in 1601.
Achievements
Connections
After returning to Antwerp in 1569, Joris Hoefnagel married Suzanne van Onchem in 1571 and in 1573 the couple had a son called Jacob, who would also become an artist.
