Collections Online

Jan Sadeler was initially apprenticed to his father's business of engraving upon armour and others metals. Yet both he and his younger brother, Raphael Sadeler (1555-1616), showed such early talent at drawing the human figure that they both established themselves as major artists. Jan Sadeler's first engravings upon copper -- designs after the drawings of Crispin Van den Broeck -- were published before he turned twenty. He then traveled and worked in Germany before settling permanently in Venice (c. 1580). Most of his greatest engravings were produced while he lived in Italy. Jan Sadeler was equally adept at both landscapes and figure studies. During his career he engraved the portraits of such eminent individuals as Marie de Medici, Pope Clement VIII, Charles, Prince of Sweden, Sigismund Feyerabend and Martin Luther. He also engraved plates after Hans Bol, Martin de Vos, Carravagio and Carracci. In Italy, Sadeler often worked with the Bruges painter, Pieter de Witte (1548-1628). De Witte worked in both Tuscany and Florence and signed his Italian works with the name of 'Candido'. At least six of Sadeler's engravings from this period, including The Annunciation, were designed by Candido.