SANDRART, Jacob von. Kurtze Beschreibung Von dem Ursprung, Aufnehmen, Gebiete, und Regierung der Weltberühmten Republick Venedig..., Nuremberg, 1686.
Jacob von Sandrart (1630-1708) was a German painter and engraver. He started learning the art of printmaking in his uncle’s workshop in Amsterdam, at the age of ten and was professionally active principally in Nuremberg. He married an engraver’s daughter and they had nine children. One of his daughters also became an engraver. Sandrart was a prolific artist, of whom four hundred signed engravings have survived. He was famous for his portraits of eminent citizens of Nuremberg and for his views and maps of cities in Europe and Africa. He was also the first director of the Nuremberg Academy of Fine Arts. In the prints in the present work, the influence of similar copperplate engravings of the late sixteenth century are discernible. Certain views of cities, although supposed to depict specific locations, are in reality imaginary representations.
Written by Ioli Vingopoulou
