Background
De Key was born in Ghent, and was already a well known architect when the Haarlem council asked him to become city architect in 1592 to succeed Wouter den Abt.
De Key was born in Ghent, and was already a well known architect when the Haarlem council asked him to become city architect in 1592 to succeed Wouter den Abt.
He brought to Haarlem the same Dutch renaissance style that Hendrick de Keyser brought to Amsterdam. Everything attributed to him or his followers, whether a building, a doorway, or merely a gable stone, is considered a rijksmonument today. The reason so many buildings in Haarlem can be attributed to him is because Haarlem had suffered a severe fire in 1576 that destroyed a third of the city, and plans were underway for large city projects when he was appointed city architect.
Before working in Haarlem and Leiden, De Key had worked in London from 1580-1591.
He died in Haarlem, aged about 77. Front of the city hall of Leiden
The Vleeshal in Haarlem, 1602-1603
The gymnasium in Leiden
The tower of the Saint Anna church in Haarlem, which still exists, though the rest of the church was demolished and rebuilt by Jacob van Campen.
The Waag in Haarlem, 1595
North wing of the city hall of Haarlem, 1620
The stone entranceway to the Proveniershuis in Haarlem, 1592
The facade of the main hall of the Frans Hals Museum, 1604-1609.