Johannes Wierix (1539 - 1620)

Joan Wierix -Jan Baptist Houwaert / Description: Man, three-quarter length, standing, facing right, holding a pair of gloves, left hand resting on his hips; open sky seen behind him. Signed upper left on image: 'IH.W', lettered below: 'WILT NU RAEN...IN'. The sitter is identified as Jan Baptist Hauwert (1533-1599) following an inscription on the print at Vienna. The text line is like a riddle. It starts with WILT NU RAEN EN VERSTAEN.., try to guess and understand... / Dimensions: 14,30 x 9,30 cm Good impression on watermarked laid paper. Full plate border, narrow bottom left. Top right corners with small tear from former album tipping. / Literature: Alvin 1866 1854 (1932 bis), Mauquoy-Hendrickx 1979 1957, Hollstein 2191 (Wierix) ---- Iehan of Johan Baptista Houwaert (Brussels, 1533 -, march 11, 1599) was a humanist poet and a playwright. He was one of the patrician family Sweerts, and has been a member of the Court of the duchy of Brabant (Netherlands). Houwaert, came from a prosperous family and was able to fulfill his ability, the talent on display, adding of his wife, Catharine van Couwenberg, also from a wealthy background. Among his possessions, was the domain of Wijngaardsberg in Sint-Joost-ten-Node, that he was able to combine with the adjacent Strytbeemt to maki his own Kleyn Venetian. In Pegasides pleyn glory it is called the most beautiful place in Europe. Without giving up the appearance of a good catholic, Houwaert sympathized the Lutheranism. Alva suspect him of being a heretic, and had him imprisoned in the Treurenborch. Houwaert escaped from execution by renouncing Protestantism and to profess the Catholic rite. It did not prevent him to re-elect the camp of William the Silent. In his latest work he claimed to have lost his Catholic faith. His vast body of work was highly regarded by his contemporaries and long afterwards.