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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThe engraving depicts Van Mander in a three-quarter view wearing a prominent ruff collar. The portrait is surrounded by an oval border containing a Dutch motto and is flanked by decorative elements including two crowned swans and a grotesque mask. The work serves as a commemorative image for the author of the foundational Schilder-Boeck.
Van Mander was the intellectual leader of the Haarlem Mannerists and his 'Wtheleggingh op den Metamorphosis' provided a definitive Neoplatonic and moralizing framework for interpreting classical mythology in Northern Europe. His work emphasized the 'pictor doctus' (learned painter) who understood the hidden philosophical truths beneath poetic fables.
TS NOODICH. MENSCH SOECKT VEEL, DOCH EEN Nicola. Lastman sculp. Carel Vermander van Molebeke in Vlaenderen, Schilder. ÆTAT. 56.
Translation
THE NEED. MAN SEEKS MUCH, YET ONE Nicola. Lastman sculp. Carel Vermander of Molebeke in Flanders, Painter. ÆTAT. 56.
Karel van Mander
The subject of the portrait and author of 'Het Schilder-Boeck', which contains essential esoteric interpretations of Ovidian myth.
Ovid's Metamorphoses
Van Mander's commentary on this text was the primary source for mythological and allegorical iconography for Dutch artists of this period.
Object
Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem
Engraving
portrait
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12102/ada69abf-6087-6fa6-cd79-b912bb92f5fa
Public domain
2473 × 3545 px
c407cbb1a15907901e5f6bd68df440bf74bc0151
April 19, 2019
March 23, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.