SADELER Aegidius II

(Antwerp 1570 – Prague 1629)

The Sadeler family was the largest and most famous dynasty of Flemish engravers and printers, active in several European countries for three generations, producing a vast amount of generally high quality works.
The progenitor was Jan de Saeyelleer (Sadeleer), who had three sons: Jan I, Aegidius I and Raphael I, the first generation of engravers. The political and religious uncertainties and the period of economic crisis in Antwerp forced the Sadeler to multiple transfers: Cologne, Munich, Venice and Prague. The second generation followed the footsteps of the previous one and Aegidius II Sadeler was certainly the most important, as to be considered today, one of the greatest Mannerist engravers in Northern Europe.
He was a pupil and nephew of the engravers Jan and Raphael Sadeler to whom he was very fond of and with whom he travelled to Germany and Italy. During his stay in Rome, Venice and Naples he studied the works of great Italian artists: Raphael, Parmigianino,Titian ,Tintoretto and Barocci.
He thus joined the group of Nordic artists active in Italy at that time, such as Paul Bril and Denys Calvaert. His engravings have been first derived from religious subjects of Northern European artists, often in series of different sheets, and subsequently he made compositions taken from the great Italian masters.
In 1597 he was called in Prague as an engraver at the court of Rudolf II where he could translate some Dürer’s drawings present in the imperial collections.
He lived for a few years in the house of Bartholomeus Spranger, of which he reproduced several works in print. Unfortunately, none of the paintings of his certain own hand has come down to us.