Biography of engravers,index K to O

Kaerius, Petrus or van der Keere, Pieter c. 1571- 1646 (??)

Pieter van den Keere (Petrus Kaerius) was born in c. 1570 in Gent as the son of a printer. He changed his homeland at young age for England and worked in London as an engraver. In 1596, Van den Keere returned to Holland and he married the sister of Petrus Bertius in 1599. He engraved a large number of individual maps in order of several cartographers. He settled in Amsterdam in 1609, where he started publishing in addition to his activities as an engraver. In 1617 he published the atlas of the Netherlands 'Germania inferior'. Pieter van den Keere died in Gent in c. 1630.

Madou, Jean Baptiste ( 1796 - 1877)

Jean Baptiste Madou was a pupil of Joseph François at the Académie in Brussels. He was made a Knight of the Order of Leopold in 1839; was a member of the 'Acadèmie de Belgique' since its beginning in 1845 and received the Cross of the Légion d’Honneur in 1855. He was a member of the Academies of Amsterdam and Antwerp, honorary member of the two London watercolor associations, Knight of the Lion of the Netherlands and Commander of the order of Leopold and the Order of Frans-Joseph.
In his 'Life of the Painters of the Flemish and Dutch School' (1842), Madou showed the taste for historical reconstruction that is also to be seen in the paintings he then began to produce, most of which were genre scenes set in the 18th century. Madou died in 1877 ( Brussels).

Examples of his work can be seen in Brussels ; Antwerp ; Bruges ; Verviers ; Liège; Amsterdam ; Bremen & Szczecin .

He unquestionably stands at the head of the genre painters in Belgium; his works, whether in lithography, in water-colors, or in oils, show a power of composition, a truthfulness, and a delicacy of touch, combined with solidity, that will bear comparison with the best that have come down to us from the old painters of the Dutch and Flemish schools.

Art Journal, February, 1866

Mercator, Gerard 1512-1594

Mercator (Gheert Cremer or Gerard de Cremere) was a cartographer, instrument and globe maker born in Rupelmonde in Flanders . He was educated in ’s Hertogenbosch ( Netherlands ) by the famous humanist Macropedius and at the University of Leuven . Despite his fame as a cartographer, Mercator's main source of income came through his craft man ship of mathematical instruments. He worked with Gemma Frisius and Caspar Myrica from 1535 to 1536 to construct a terrestrial globe. He drew his first map in the age of 25. He moved in 1552 to Duisburg where he continued the production of maps, globes and instruments. After producing several maps he was appointed Court Cosmographer to the Duke Wilhelm of Jülich-Cleves-Berg in 1564. He constructed a new chart and first used it in 1569. It had parallel lines of longitude to aid navigation by sea, as compass courses could be marked as straight lines. He produced his own atlas in a number of parts, the first of which was published in 1578. Additional maps followed. After a second complete edition in 1602, the map plates were bought in 1604 by Jodocus Hondius who, with his sons Jodocus II and Henricus, published enlarged editions. Mercator died in Duisburg as a respected citizen in 1595.

Niebuhr, Carsten (1733-1815)

Carsten Niebuhr, as a German traveler and surveyor was invited in 1760 as engineer-lieutenant to join the expedition being sent out by Frederick V of Denmark for the scientific exploration of Egypt , Syria and Arabia, the first of its kind. As the only survivor of the team Niebuhr remained in India until the autumn of 1764, before sailing from Bombay to Muscat, and then to Bushire. From there he continued overland through Shiraz , Persepolis, Babylon, Baghdad , Mosul and Aleppo. Having regained the Mediterranean he sailed to Cyprus and explored Palestine (1766). Continuing north along the coast, he crossed the Taurus Mountains of Turkey to Brusa and Istanbul . He returned to Copenhagen in 1767 and his maps remained in use for over a hundred years. Niebuhr married in 1773, lived in Copenhagen and held a post in the Danish military service. He wrote 'Description of Arabia' in 1772 and 'Travels Through Arabia' (1774). In 1778 he accepted a position in the civil service of Holstein and went to reside at Meldorf, where he died on 26 April 1815.

Ortelius, Abraham (1528-1598)

Abraham Ortelius was born in Antwerp and after studying Greek, Latin and mathematics he set up business with his sister as a book dealer and engraver. He traveled extensively in Europe. A turning-point in his career was reached in 1564 with the publication of a World Map in eight sheets. He issued in 1570 the atlas ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' (Atlas of the Whole World). Most of the maps were reproductions (a list of 87 authors is given in the first 'Theatrum' by Ortelius himself). The 'Theatrum' was an instant success. Three Latin editions of this atlas appeared before the end of 1572; twenty-five editions came out before his death. J. B. Vrients produced the later editions until he died in 1612. In 1573 Ortelius published seventeen supplementary maps under the title 'Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terrarum'. Four more followed. Ortelius was appointed geographer to the king of Spain , Philips II in 1575. In 1579 he published his 'Nomenclator Ptolemaicus' and started his 'Parergon'. He died in 1598 ( Antwerp ) .


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