Stradanus: Difference between revisions

'''Stradanus''', '''Johannes Stradanus''', '''Jan van der Straet''' or '''Giovanni Stradano'''<ref>More name variations: Johannes Stradanus, Giovanni della Strada, Johannes della Strada, Giovanni Stradano, Johannes Stradano, Giovanni Stradanus, Johannes Stradanus, Jan van Straeten, Jan van Straten</ref><ref name=rkd>[https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/75652 Jan van der Straet] at the [[Netherlands Institute for Art History]] {{in lang|nl}}</ref><ref name=lig>[https://archive.org/details/deliggerenenand00lukagoog/page/n180 De liggeren en andere historische archieven der Antwerpsche sint Lucasgilde van 1453–1615], edited and published by Ph. Rombouts and Th. van Lerius, Antwerp, 1872–1876, p. 153 {{in lang|nl}}</ref> (1523 &ndash; 2 November 1605) was a Flemish artist active mainly in 16th-century [[Florence]], Italy. He was a wide-ranging talent who worked as an easel and fresco painter, designer of tapestries, draughtsman, designer of prints and pottery decorator. His subject range was varied and included history subjects, mythological scenes, allegories, landscapes, genre scenes, portraits, architectural scenes and animals.<ref name=rkd/> After training in his native Flanders, he left his home country and ultimately settled down in [[Florence]], Italy. He became a prominent court artist to the [[House of Medici|Medici]] during the second half of the 16th century and worked on the many decorative projects of the court.<ref name=snel>[https://issuu.com/misha1/docs/stradanus M. Sellink, ''Stradanus (1523-1605), Court Artist of the Medici''], Harvey Miller Publishers, 2011</ref> Stradanus also produced large altarpieces for the most important churches in Florence.<ref name=tento>[http://www.tento.be/nl/OKV-artikel/jan-van-der-straet-alias-stradanus-hofkunstenaar-van-de-medici Sandra Janssens, ''Jan van der Straet, alias Stradanus - Hofkunstenaar van de Medici''] at Tento {{in lang|nl}}</ref>

He was a prolific designer of prints which were circulated widely throughout Europe for many centuries.<ref name=snel/> Through his knowledge of Florentine and Italian art and his international contacts with engravers and editors in Antwerp, Stradanus contributed to the development of printmaking.<ref name=cod>{{cite web|title=Stradanus (1523-1605), artist at the Medici court. Exhibition: 9 October 2008 – 4 January 2009|url=https://www.codart.nl/guide/agenda/stradanus-1523-1605-hofkunstenaar-van-de-medici|work=at Codart|accessdate=4 October 2019}}</ref> He was one of the earliest members of the prominent [[Accademia delle Arti del Disegno|Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno]] established in Florence in 1563. Stradanus also worked on various commissions in Rome, and resided in Naples from 1576 until about 1580. Thereafter he returned to Florence, dying there in 1605.<ref name=hol>[https://www.hollstein.com/johannes-stradanus-part-i.html M. Leesberg, ''Johannes Stradanus''] at Hollstein</ref>

Born in [[Bruges]], he began his training in the shop of his father. He subsequently continued his training in the workshop of the furtherotherwise unknown Bruges master Maximiliaen Francken (from 1535 to 1537). He later moved to Antwerp, where he studied from 1537 to 1540 in the workshop of [[Pieter Aertsen]], a Dutch genre painter active in Antwerpthat city. There he mastered the visual language of the Renaissance and the ability to depict complex compositions.<ref name=dbnl>[https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_ons003200801_01/_ons003200801_01_0038.php Manfred Sellink, ''Johannes van der Straet, Gevierd Brugs schilder in Florence''] in: Ons Erfdeel. Volume 51 (2008) {{in lang|nl}}</ref> In 1545 he was registered under the name Hans vander Straten as a master painter in the Antwerp [[guild of Saint Luke]].<ref name=lig/> In Antwerp he moved in the circle of the [[Romanism (painting)|Romanists]], i.e. Northern artists who had traveled to Italy and upon their return to their home country created a Renaissance style, which assimilated Italian formal language.<ref name=tento/><ref name=ilja>Ilja M. Veldman. "Romanism." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 5 October 2019</ref>

As was common at the time, heStradanus left his home country to travel to Italy to complete his studies in Italy.<ref name=dbnl/> He traveled first to Lyon where he may have worked with the Dutch painter [[Corneille de la Haye]]. He then moved on to Venice where he spent a few months.<ref name=golt>[https://issuu.com/artsolution/docs/2018_catalogue/16 ''Three drawings by Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus (1523-1605)''] in: Stephen Ongpin Fine Art: 2018 Master Drawings Catalogue, published on 9 January 2018, p. 16-27</ref> In Venice he met the Flemish carpet weaver [[Jan Rost]] who headed up the newly established Arazzeria Medicea, the personal weaving workshop in of Florence of the Grand Duke of Tuscany [[Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Cosimo I de' Medici]]. Rost encouraged Stradanus to travel to Florence for work. He followed the advice and reached Florence in 1550, where he entered in the service of the [[Medici]] Grand Dukes. He became one of the principal assistants of [[Giorgio Vasari]], a painter, architect and the principal advisor of the Medici on art issues. Stradanus carried out his first commissions as a designer of tapestries in the Arazzeria Medicea.<ref name=tento/> He designed a number of scenes for tapestries and frescoes to decorate the [[Palazzo Vecchio]] in Florence and the Medici Villa at [[Poggio a Caiano]], projects that were under the general direction of Vasari and executed by the about 20 assistants in Vasari's workshop.<ref name=dbnl/>

Stradanus worked in Florence in a milieu that included Vasari, [[Bronzino]], [[Allori]] and Salviati. Stradanus was one of the earliest members together with the aforementioned artists of the Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno, after its establishment was approved by the Medici court on 13 January 1563 at the request of Vasari. The Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno acted both as a guild for all working artists in Florence and an institution for education in the arts. Stradanus later became a consul of this institution. He also taught classes at the Accademia, and one of his pupils was [[Antonio Tempesta]]. He played a key role in the design of the tomb of Michelangelo who died in 1564.<ref name=hna>[https://hnanews.org/hnar/reviews/stradanus-1523-1605-court-artist-medici Arthur J. DiFuria, ''Review of Stradanus 1523-1605: Court Artist of the Medici By Alessandra Baroni and Manfred Sellink''], in: Historians of Netherlandish Art Reviews, published in 2013</ref> Stradanus also worked on various ephemeral works created for important public events in Florence. In 1565, he was a member of the team of painters and sculptors who executed the large-scale decorations at the occasion of the entry into Florence of [[Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany]] on the occasion of her wedding with [[Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany]]. The overall direction of the project was in the hands of Giorgio Vasari.<ref name=franc/>

In the early 1570s Stradanus seems to have become independent of the court and Vasari. By this time the relationship between Stradanus and Vasari had soured and Vasari even tried to prevent Stradanus from gaining certain commissions. During this period he created a number of easel paintings. He had started to gain on his own commissions for large altarpieces for the most important churches of Florence, starting with the [[Santa Croce, Florence|Santa Croce]] in 1569, which was followed by the [[Santissima Annunziata, Florence|Santissima Annunziata]], the Santo Spirito, the [[Santa Maria Novella]] and other churches. He was also gradually working more outside Florence in places such as Pisa, Prato, Arezzo and Forli.<ref name=dbnl/> In 1576 he moved to Naples, where he was employed by hethe newly appointed vice-`roy of Naples [[John of Austria]]. He visited around 1578 Antwerp possibly traveling from Naples in the company of [[John of Austria]] who had been appointed governor of the Spanish Netherlands. At that time Antwerp was the most important centre of printing and publishing in Europe. Following this visit, he began to design engravings for the Antwerp printers, eventually producing a large number of drawings destined to be translated into prints.<ref name=ong>[https://www.stephenongpin.com/artist/236956/jan-van-der-straet-stradanus Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus biography] at Stephen Ongpin Fine Art</ref> Stradanus collaborated with printmakers [[Hieronymus Cock]] and the [[Philip Galle|Galle]] family in Antwerp to produce hundreds of prints on a variety of subjects, most of which were repeatedly reproduced and often bound into volumes.<ref name=cod/>

[[File:Siege of Florence1.jpg|thumb|300px|1530 ''Siege of Florence''. Palazzo Vecchio, Sala di Clemente VII.]]

Stradanus was a versatile artist who worked as an easel and fresco painter, designer of tapestries, draughtsman, designer of prints and pottery decorator. His subject range was varied and included history subjects, mythological and religious scenes, allegories, landscapes, genre scenes, portraits, battle pieces, architectural scenes and animals.<ref name=rkd/> He was a prolific designer of prints which were circulated widely throughout Europe for many centuries.<ref name=snel/> It is Stradanus' versality and relentless zest for work that ensured him such an important role in the workshop of Vasari and in the Florentine art world which he was able to maintain for almost 60 years. Around 1580 he commissioned a [[:File:Johannes Wierix, Stradanus (after) - Portrait of Stradanus.jpg|printed self-portrait]] (engraved by [[Johannes Wierix]]) accompanied by the following motto: ASSIDUITATE NIHIL NON ADSEQUITUR (There is nothing that cannot be achieved through perseverance).<ref name=bouk/>

In 1559 Stradanus designed the cartoons on the theme of the ''Life of Man'' for the Quartiere di Leonora in the Palazzo Vecchio. The series was completed in 1565 and only four tapestries survive. Stradanus further designed cartoons for a six-piece series of ''Roman women'' (realised in 1562-15641562–1564), a series of four on the ''Story of Esther and Ahasuerus'' (realised in 1562-15641562–1564) and a six piece series of the ''Story of Ulysses'' (realised in 1563-15651563–1565) for the Sala di Penelope. Stradanus designed cartoons for a series of four on the ''Story of David'' for the Quartiere di Cosimo (realised in 1561-15621561–1562), a four piece series of the ''Story of Solomon'' (realised in 1564-15651564–1565), two sets of the ''Story of Cyrus'' comprising 13 tapestries (realised in 1565-15671565–1567) and two more series of the ''Story of David''. He further provided designs for cartoons for a series of tapestries on the ''History of the Medici'' for the Quartiere di Leone X (realised in 1569-15741569–1574).<ref name=tapestries>Campbell, Thomas P. (2002). ''Tapestry in the Renaissance: Art and Magnificence''. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art-Yale University Press. pp. 502-504</ref>

[[File:De uitvinding van de boekdrukkunst, anoniem, Museum Plantin-Moretus, PK OPB 0186 005.jpg|thumb|290px|left|''The invention of printing'' from the ''Nova reperta'', c. {{Circa|1590}}]]

The subjects of the prints were wide-ranging and were in the first place geared towards the demand on the international market for prints that was supplied by the Antwerp printers. After the take-over by Antwerp by the Catholics, the preference was for [[counterCounter-reformationReformation]] themes such as the two ''[[Passion of Jesus|Passion]]'' cycles, series on the ''life of the Virgin'' and the ''life of St. John the Baptist'', the ''Acts of the Apostles'', two series of the ''Resurrection of Christ'' and countless loose devotional prints that Stradanus designed.<ref name=dbnl/>

In addition, Stradanus drew inspiration for subjects from the Florentine intellectual and literary climate in which he lived. Important were his contacts with the exiled Florentine writer and scholar [[Luigi Alamanni]] and other members of the Alamanni family who are mentioned in various commissions and dedications to prints. Luigi Alamanni likely inspired Stradanus to illustrate the entire ''[[Divine Comedy|Divina Commedia]]''. Stradanus made a number of drawings for this project which was never completed. Only one of these drawings, depicting Canto 34 of Hell, where Dante and Vergilius look at Lucifer in the center of the earthEarth, was engraved by Philip Galle. Other themes that tie in with similar intellectual interest are the ''Nova reperta'', depicting inventions of the modern era ending with a [[:File:De uitvinding van de boekdrukkunst, anoniem, Museum Plantin-Moretus, PK OPB 0186 005.jpg|print showing an active printshop]] and the ''Americae retectio'', a so-called 'picture atlas', issued in leaflet form to commemorate the first centenary of the discovery of the New World.<ref name=dbnl/> It has been argued that the two prints in the ''Nova reperta'' series on America of which one shows [[Amerigo Vespucci]]'s first encounter with the New World and the four symbolic prints making up the ''Americae retectio'' series were aimed at showing the presumed important role played by Florence in the discovery of America as Vespucci was a Florentine. The prints and their allegorical symbols were disseminated widely through the next century and informed the contemporary perception of America.<ref name=amer>Lia Markey, ''Stradano’s Allegorical Invention of the Americas in Late Sixteenth-Century Florence'', in: Renaissance Quarterly Renaissance Quarterly Vol. 65, No. 2 (Summer 2012), pp. 385-442</ref> He also designed a series depicting the ''Horses of the Stable of John of Austria'' and the ''Illustrious acts of Roman women''.<ref name=dbnl/>

==Notes References ==

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