GALLE Philipp

(Haarlem 1537 – Antwerp 1612)

Galle descends from a Flemish dynasty of engravers and printers. The first was Philipp, born in Haarlem, Holland, but soon moved to Antwerp, perhaps in anticipation of the siege of Haarlem by the Spanish army. He was a pupil of the engraver D.V. Coornhert from whom he learnt the art of engraving with burin.

In Antwerp he worked actively, from 1557 to 1567, with the famous editor and publisher Hieronymus Cock. He married Catharina van Rollant on 9 June 1569. They had five children who later became active as artists: Theodoor, Cornelis, Philips II, Justa (who married the engraver Adriaen Collaert) and Catharina (who married the engraver Karel de Mallery).

After Cock’s death, Philipp opened his own workshop where many important engravers worked, such as the Wierix brothers and the Collaert. In addition to work as a draftsman and engraver, he has also worked as a publisher and in his workshop he used to employ his sons Theodoor and Cornelis too. His production as an engraver was very extensive both for reproduction prints and for book-making. He died in Antwerp in March 1612.