Explore: Anthonis van den Wyngaerde

(c.1525 - 1571)

Antonis van den Wyngaerde, a native of the Low Countries, is best-known for a series of 32 topographical studies of Spanish cities. The series was commissioned by Christopher Plantin (c.1520-1589), who ran a successful printing and publishing business in Antwerp. Wyngaerde’s Spanish drawings are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, alongside topographical drawings by the artist depicting London, Rome and various cities in the Netherlands. Several examples of his drawings are signed and dated 1558 and it has been suggested that these were made when Wyngaerde was part of a cortege travelling with Philip II, the King of Spain and (as the husband of Mary I) King Consort of England, from 1554 to 1558.