Jan Baptist Zangrius
Encyclopedia
Jan Baptist Zangrius was an Flemish
engraver, publisher, typographer and bookseller.
His name is mostly spelled as Johannes Baptista Zangrius, but is also known as de Sanger, de Zangre, Zangre, and Zangré.
In 1601, Zangrius engraved the portraits of Infante Isabella, her husband archduke
Albrecht Habsburg
, governor
of the Low Countries
, and Justus Lipsius
. These engravings were also part of his 1602 (or 1605) work titled Album Amicorum containing 67 engravings, namely 46 womanly costumes and armorial cartouche
s, 9 small and 11 bigger armorial engravings.
It is one of the earliest examples of heraldic pavilion
s (by all probability after Jean-Jacques Boissard). The small armorial shields are empty. The womanly costumes were engraved after the tables of Julius Goltzius, to be found in the following title: Jean Jacques Boissard, Habitvs Variarvm Orbis gentium. Habitz de Nations estra:[n]ges. Trachten mancherley Voelcker des Erdskreysz, Cum Priuilegio Caesaro, Cum Priuilegio Regio, 1581 [Mechelen, Caspar Rutz]
system in heraldry
, identical with the present day hatching method, seen on his armorial chart of Brabant
. (Jean Baptiste Zangre, Representation de l'Ancienne et Souveraine Duche de Brabant, ses Villes, Dignitez et Dependences, Comme Lothier, Limborghe et Pays de Outre Meuse, Louvain, 1600. Measures: 49 x 56.3 cm). Though manufactured by Arnold van Rincvelt, it is better known as the armorial chart of Zangrius. The original chart is held by the Helmond Castle-Townhall.
The armorial chart of Zangrius was first published in the 81st volume (1964) of the De Nederlandsche Leeuw by F. J. van Ettro. He maintains that the present-day hatching system was invented by Zangrius. The historical background for the coming into existence of the armorial chart was the 6 March 1598 edict
of the Spanish king Philip II
who detached the Low Countries
in his testament
from Spain
and gave independence to the Netherlands
on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Infante Isabella to archduke Albrecht Habsburg who served as the governor of the province since 1596. The princely consorts marched across Brussels
ceremoniously on 5 September 1599. As Albrecht Habsburg died in 1621 without heirs, the country returned to the Spanish crown, as was stated in the treaty. (For another engraving from 1623, portraying Albrecht‘s funeral procession, see the picture taken from Jacob Franquart
.) Albrecht‘s proclamation of the sovereignty
was illustrated by numerous armorial charts published by several cities and noblemen of the Low Countries, and the armorial chart of Zangrius held in the Helmond Castle-Townhall is one of them.
F. J. van Ettro maintained: "Particularly noteworthy about this chart is, that the metals gold and silver, and the colours red, blue, green and black, are rendered according to the same system of hatching by means of dots and stripes, as is being used to this day in modern heraldry". (op. cit. p. 211)
However, the hatching systems of Silvester Petra Sancta
(1638) and Marcus Vulson de la Colombière
(1639), respectively differ from the method developed by Zangrius in the way of hatching of the colour Sable. Thus, it almost seems evident that Petra Sancta or de la Colombière modeled their systems after Zangrius‘ hatching table.
Zangrius inscribed into the oval escutcheon of his hatching table both the heraldic and standard French language appellations of the given tinctures as follows – Or
, Argent
, Geulle [gueules] and Rouge (gules
), Azur and Bleu (azure
), Sinople
and Verd [Vert] (vert
). The hatching used by him for these tinctures is identical with contemporary hatching methods. The only difference in Zangrius’ system was the hatching of the colour sable
(Sable and Noir by Zangrius), i.e. crossing of vertical and diagonal lines from the heraldic left to right instead of the present day's crossing of vertical and horizontal lines.
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
engraver, publisher, typographer and bookseller.
His name is mostly spelled as Johannes Baptista Zangrius, but is also known as de Sanger, de Zangre, Zangre, and Zangré.
Biographical Data
He was active in Leuven between 1595 and 1606 and by all probability he was a relative of the publishers and typographists Petrus (1559-1623) and Philippus Zangrius (1585-1610).In 1601, Zangrius engraved the portraits of Infante Isabella, her husband archduke
Archduke
The title of Archduke denotes a noble rank above Duke and below King, used only by princes of the Houses of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine....
Albrecht Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
, governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, and Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius was a Southern-Netherlandish philologist and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these is De Constantia...
. These engravings were also part of his 1602 (or 1605) work titled Album Amicorum containing 67 engravings, namely 46 womanly costumes and armorial cartouche
Cartouche
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an ellipse with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, replacing the earlier serekh...
s, 9 small and 11 bigger armorial engravings.
It is one of the earliest examples of heraldic pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
s (by all probability after Jean-Jacques Boissard). The small armorial shields are empty. The womanly costumes were engraved after the tables of Julius Goltzius, to be found in the following title: Jean Jacques Boissard, Habitvs Variarvm Orbis gentium. Habitz de Nations estra:[n]ges. Trachten mancherley Voelcker des Erdskreysz, Cum Priuilegio Caesaro, Cum Priuilegio Regio, 1581 [Mechelen, Caspar Rutz]
Zangrius in Heraldry
According to some authors, Zangrius developed the earliest hatchingHatching
Hatching is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing closely spaced parallel lines...
system in heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
, identical with the present day hatching method, seen on his armorial chart of Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
. (Jean Baptiste Zangre, Representation de l'Ancienne et Souveraine Duche de Brabant, ses Villes, Dignitez et Dependences, Comme Lothier, Limborghe et Pays de Outre Meuse, Louvain, 1600. Measures: 49 x 56.3 cm). Though manufactured by Arnold van Rincvelt, it is better known as the armorial chart of Zangrius. The original chart is held by the Helmond Castle-Townhall.
The armorial chart of Zangrius was first published in the 81st volume (1964) of the De Nederlandsche Leeuw by F. J. van Ettro. He maintains that the present-day hatching system was invented by Zangrius. The historical background for the coming into existence of the armorial chart was the 6 March 1598 edict
Edict
An edict is an announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism. The Pope and various micronational leaders are currently the only persons who still issue edicts.-Notable edicts:...
of the Spanish king Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
who detached the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
in his testament
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and gave independence to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Infante Isabella to archduke Albrecht Habsburg who served as the governor of the province since 1596. The princely consorts marched across Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
ceremoniously on 5 September 1599. As Albrecht Habsburg died in 1621 without heirs, the country returned to the Spanish crown, as was stated in the treaty. (For another engraving from 1623, portraying Albrecht‘s funeral procession, see the picture taken from Jacob Franquart
Jacob Franquart
Jacob Franquart was a Flemish painter, court architect, and an outstanding copper plate engraver...
.) Albrecht‘s proclamation of the sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
was illustrated by numerous armorial charts published by several cities and noblemen of the Low Countries, and the armorial chart of Zangrius held in the Helmond Castle-Townhall is one of them.
F. J. van Ettro maintained: "Particularly noteworthy about this chart is, that the metals gold and silver, and the colours red, blue, green and black, are rendered according to the same system of hatching by means of dots and stripes, as is being used to this day in modern heraldry". (op. cit. p. 211)
However, the hatching systems of Silvester Petra Sancta
Silvester Petra Sancta
Silvester Petra Sancta was an Italian Jesuit priest, and heraldist. His name is also spelt as Sylvester Petra Sancta, Petrasancta, in Italian Padre Silvestro da Pietrasanta. Pseudonym: Coelius Servilius...
(1638) and Marcus Vulson de la Colombière
Marcus Vulson de la Colombière
Marcus Vulson de la Colombière or Sieur [Sir] de la Colombière was a French heraldist, historian, poet, minion of the royal court. His name is often spelt as Wulson and also as Volson....
(1639), respectively differ from the method developed by Zangrius in the way of hatching of the colour Sable. Thus, it almost seems evident that Petra Sancta or de la Colombière modeled their systems after Zangrius‘ hatching table.
Zangrius inscribed into the oval escutcheon of his hatching table both the heraldic and standard French language appellations of the given tinctures as follows – Or
Or (heraldry)
In heraldry, Or is the tincture of gold and, together with argent , belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". In engravings and line drawings, it may be represented using a field of evenly spaced dots...
, Argent
Argent
In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...
, Geulle [gueules] and Rouge (gules
Gules
In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....
), Azur and Bleu (azure
Azure
In heraldry, azure is the tincture with the colour blue, and belongs to the class of tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of horizontal lines or else marked with either az. or b. as an abbreviation....
), Sinople
Sinople
Sinople was a term for a kind of red earth used as a pigment in antiquity.It can refer to:*sinople, also sinoper, a term for "red", and later "green" in heraldry, see Sinople...
and Verd [Vert] (vert
Vert
The colour green is commonly found in modern flags and coat of arms, and to a lesser extent also in the classical heraldry of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period....
). The hatching used by him for these tinctures is identical with contemporary hatching methods. The only difference in Zangrius’ system was the hatching of the colour sable
Sable (heraldry)
In heraldry, sable is the tincture black, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures, called "colours". In engravings and line drawings, it is sometimes depicted as a region of crossed horizontal and vertical lines or else marked with sa. as an abbreviation.The name derives from the black fur of...
(Sable and Noir by Zangrius), i.e. crossing of vertical and diagonal lines from the heraldic left to right instead of the present day's crossing of vertical and horizontal lines.
Works
Albvm Amicorvm Habitibvs Mvliervm Omniv[m] Natoinv[m] Evropae, tvm Tabvlis as Scvtis Vacvis in aes Incisis Adonatvm, Vt quisque et sÿmbola et insignia sua gentilitia in ÿs depingi commode curare possit; Lovanii Apud Ioannem Baptistam Zangrium. Anno 1599Published Engravings
Hollstein‘s Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450-1700. Volume LVIII, I. Wyngaerden to Anthony van Zylvelt. Compided by Jeroen de Scheemaker, Edited by D. De Hoop Scheffer. Sound & Vision Publishers Rotterdam 2001, in co-operation with the Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. pp. 40-64.Literature
- Füßli, H. H. : Allgemeiner Künstlerlexikon, Zweiter Theil, Elfter Abschnitt, Zürich 1820
- Hollstein, F. W. H.: Dutch & Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450-1700, vol. 1-, Amsterdam 1949-87; Roosendaal 1988-93; Rotterdam 1995-
- Icones Leidenses. De Portretverzameling van de Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, Leiden 1973
- Immerzeel Jr., J.: De levens en werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche kunstschilders, beeldhouwers, graveurs en bouwmeesters van het begin der vijftiende eeuw tot heden, 3 vols., Amsterdam 1842-43
- Kamm, C.: De levens en werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche kunstschilders, beeldhouwers, graveurs en bouwmeesters, 6 vols. and suppl., Amsterdam 1857-64
- Linnig, B.: La gravure en Belgique, Anvers 1911
- Nagler, G. K.: Neues Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon, 22 vols. München 1835-22
- Rouzet, A.: Dictionnaire des imprimeurs, Libraires et éditeurs des XVe et XVIe siècles dans les limites geographiques de la Belgique actuelle, Nieuwkoop 1975
- Simoni, A. E. C.: Catalogue of Books from the Low Countries 1601-1621 in the British Library, London 1990
- Someren, J. F. van: Beschrijvende catalogus van gegraveerde portretten van Nederlanders, 3 vols., Amsterdam 1888-91
- Singer, H. W.: Allgemeiner Bildniskatalog, 14 vols., Leipzig 1930-36
- Thieme, U. and Becker, F.: Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenen Künstler, 37 vols., Leipzig 1907-50
- Wurzbach, A. von: Niederländsisches Künstler-Lexikon, 3 vols., Wien and Leipzig 1906-11
- F.J. van Ettro, The Heraldic Chart of Brabant by Zangrius for the year 1600. De Nederlandsche Leeuw, 1964, pp. 211-217