Claes Jansz. Visscher

Claes Janszoon Visscher (* 1587, † 1652 in Amsterdam) was the founder of a Dutch art dealer, engraver and publisher dynasty. His name also appears in lateinisierten forms, such as Nicolaus Ioann (id) it Piscator or similar on Card works.

Life and work

His extensive body of work consists of around 120 mainly topographical drawings of some 200 prints, including landscapes and urban views, border decorations on cards from other publishers as well as by himself designed and published maps and atlases. The publishing house founded by Visscher "In de Visscher " was established since 1611 in the Amsterdam Kalverstraat.

Visscher was born the son of the ship's carpenter January Claes Visscher. His artistic teachers are not known, due to style compare one assumes, however, that he ' was a pupil of David Vinckboons. Until the early 1620s Visscher worked as a draftsman and engraver. His cartographic work during this time were limited largely to the jump-off of the edge of borders for the map by Willem Janszoon Blaeu, Harman Allertszoon van Warmenhuysen and Pieter van den Keere.

After he had taken over in 1623, the printing plates of the van Keeres Atlas " Germania inferior ," Visscher worked as a freelance cartographer and publisher. In the cartographic area he focused on maps for the Netherlands, for Germany as well as sieges. Some of his maps were included in the Mercator - Hondius Atlas.

After his death in 1652 his son Nicolaes Visscher I took over the publishing house, which persisted until the first half of the 18th century.