LEUVEN, M – MUSEUM LEUVEN, 14-03-2013 – 09-06-2013
PARIS, FONDATION CUSTODIA – INSTITUT NÉERLANDAIS, 18.09.2013 – 15.12.2013
Hieronymus Cock. The Renaissance in print, Leuven, M – Museum and Paris, Fondation Custodia – Institut Néerlandais (2013)
Hieronymus Cock (1518–1570) was undoubtedly the greatest print publisher the Low Countries have ever known. His house ‘In the Four Winds’ in Antwerp specialized exclusively in the production of printed images, but on a scale never seen before. Cock not only managed to secure the services of the best engravers, he also had his prints – many hundreds – designed by the most ambitious and innovative artists of the day.
Cock played a crucial role in disseminating the art of the Italian Renaissance in the Low Countries and introducing new forms of ornamentation and architecture. It was Cock, too, who recognized the genius of the young Pieter Bruegel, with his art rooted in the Netherlandish tradition. Bruegel’s diabolical fantasies and his grand vision of the landscape soon became widely known throughout Europe thanks to the prints published by Cock.
The exhibition presents almost the entire range of prints a client could choose from ‘In the Four Winds’. Some rare design drawings have also been on display for this occasion. The selection was made from the collections in the Royal Library in Brussels, and complemented by loans from other European collections. The exhibition is a collaborative venture between Illuminare, the M – Museum Leuven, the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels, and the Fondation Custodia in Paris.
Joris Van Grieken, Ger Luijten & Jan Van der Stock (eds.), exhib. cat., Hieronymus Cock. The Renaissance in Print (Leuven, M – Museum Leuven), New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2013. (also in Dutch and French)