Jacob Bellaert

Illustration from Bartholomeus Anglicus's book Van de proprieteiten der dingen, 1484.

Jacob Bellaert, an early Dutch publisher who produced seventeen books in Haarlem from 1483 to 1486, is also the name given to the early Netherlandish painter Master of Bellaert, so called for his many woodcuts in Bellaert's illustrations.

Biography

Christ before Pilate, by the Master of Bellaert, showing the Haarlem City Hall in the background.

Little is known of his life or that of his illustrator. According to the National Library of the Netherlands (KB), the edition of Der sonderen troest of het Proces tussen Belial ende Moyses is the only version of Jacobus de Teramo's story of Liber Bellial known to have been produced in Dutch.^[1] In his 1484 edition of Bartholomeus Anglicus's book Van de proprieteiten der dingen (English:"Of the propriety of things"), Jacob Bellaert printed his own name in the colophon, which is how his name survived.^[1]

According to the RKD the art historian W.R. Valentiner identified him as identical to the painter Albert van Ouwater and the Master of the Tiburtine Sibyl.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Jacob Bellaert in the KB
2. ^ Meester van Bellaert in the RKD

• Jacob Bellaert on the website of the KB