Jacob Matham Biography
Jacob Adriaenszoon Matham (Haarlem, 15 October 1571 (baptised) – Haarlem, 20 January 1631) was a Dutch engraver and draftsman of the Golden Age. Father of the engravers Jan, Adriaen and Theodor, he was a pupil and stepson of Hendrick Goltzius, who, having married Jacob's mother in 1579, took him as his apprentice. He was first active in Italy from 1593 to 1597, where he stayed mainly in Venice and Rome, and subsequently in his hometown from 1598 to 1631. In 1600 he became a member of the local Guild of San Luca. In 1601 he obtained a printing privilege from King Rudolf II in Prague. He married Maria van Poelenburgh, sister of the engraver Simon Poelenburgh, who was not related to Cornelis van Poelenburch. He dedicated himself mainly to the creation of religious subjects, also producing devotional prints, landscapes and portraits, in particular of his contemporaries made on copper. The influence of Hendrick Goltzius shines through in his works, from whose drawings and paintings he made several engravings and whose manner he closely imitated. A very prolific author, he made several engravings both from works by Italian authors (from his own drawings or by Goltzius), and from works by Pieter Paul Rubens from 1611-1615 and by Pieter Aertsen. Rubens used the engravers of Goltzius' school as they were able to faithfully reproduce the effects of his touch. Furthermore, he or his collaborators specially prepared monochromes from which the engravings were then produced. Matham had various students including Johannes Everardsz van Bronckhorst, Pieter Soutman, Jan van de Velde II (1613) and his son Adriaen.
