Hieronymus Cock, La gravure à la Renaissance

Visiting the wing of the Institut Néerlandais that houses the Hieronymus Cock exhibition is to admire a grandiose portrait of the 16th century. History, architecture, geography, mythology: when he founded his publishing house ‘The Four Winds’ in 1548, Cock began a sort of inventory of the era's artistic legacy through his etchings. At a time when imagery was still rare and precious, the etchings he published minutely reproduced the works of the masters of the Italian Quattrocento movement (particularly Raphael), maps of a rapidly expanding world, plans of remarkable Italian buildings and the most famous religious imagery of the era.

Living in Antwerp, the hub of the Western world at the time, Cock was fully involved in the Renaissance and the diffusion of the humanist spirit. While facilitating the circulation of works from Southern Europe, he allowed many Dutch artists to open up to global influences and to benefit from the copies that inspired their own creativity (while saving them the price of a trip to Rome or Florence).

Beyond the crucial importance of Cock’s publishing house in the intellectual and artistic development of the 16th century, the exhibition underlines the quality of the work it produced. Influential and innovative, ‘The Four Winds’ was also the principal outlet for the work of Brueghel the Elder, during a fruitful collaboration that lasted over 15 years and produced some astounding etchings. His amazing series on the seven deadly sins, full of absurd figures and perverse details, or his impressive landscapes bursting with life, are excellent advertisements for the treasures revealed by this surprising exhibition.