Wierix family

He then returned to Antwerp for nearly 20 years – perhaps his best period – and moved briefly to The Hague before settling in Brussels at about the turn of the century, where he remained until his death.

[3] They may have been let go by Plantin for this reason, and a famous letter from him complained that they only worked for a few days to raise enough money to disappear into the taverns, where he would have to seek them out, pay their bills, and get their tools out of pawn.

[6] As they grew older they led more regular lives, all marrying with several children, and probably all running workshops with assistants – the portraitist Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt began his training with Hieronymus, although he soon moved to another master.

Anton III's death at an even younger age brought an end to the family business, although at least one of the brothers' many daughters married an engraver.

Their association with the Jesuits began with the illustrations for the Adnotationes et Meditationes in Evangelia, a project initiated by the order's founder, St. Ignatius Loyola before his death in 1556.

[10] The prints were finally published in a separate volume from the text in 1593, the Evangelicae Historiae Imagines ("Pictures of the Gospel Stories") and were still being reprinted in the 18th century.

They were intended as models of faithful depictions of the incidents of the Gospels, and partly as a Counter Reformation riposte to Protestant criticisms of Catholic iconographical tradition.

Among copies was a version made by Jesuit missionaries in China in woodblock print form,[11] and editions presented to the Emperors of Ethiopia had a considerable influence on the iconography of local artists.