A monograph with a full catalogue raisonné of the work of Flemish miniaturist Joris Hoefnagel and his son Jacob  is due to be published by Thea Vignau-Wilberg on 15 December 2017. The publication, which is the first to cover the complete works of both artists, will be published in the 2017 series of the Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft (German Society for Studies in Art History).

Hardly any other artist contributed as much to the internationalization of Flemish miniature painting in the sixteenth century as Joris Hoefnagel (1542–1600). With his keen powers of observation, he enriched the natural sciences, especially the field of entomology, with exquisite images. Joris Hoefnagel belonged to a circle of highly educated artists and humanists that worked at Europe’s most important courts in the late sixteenth century. Here he produced his illuminations for extensive ecclesiastical and secular codices and his meditative cabinet miniatures. His fame is not least founded on his meticulously drawn vedute of European cities. They were published between 1572 and 1617 as engravings in the Civitates Orbis Terrarum. After training as a painter in Antwerp, his son Jacob Hoefnagel (1573–1632/1633) followed in his father’s footsteps, dazzling the Kunstkammer at the imperial court in Prague with his works. He, however, concentrated primarily on mythological and allegorical scenes.

With over five hundred images, Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel: Art and Science around 1600 is not only a monograph on the work of both artists, it also deals with the sixteenth-century views on humanism and natural science. It is the result of years of research by Thea Vignau-Wilberg, during which she has been assisted by many colleagues and members of CODART.

Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel: Art and Science around 1600
Thea Vignau-Wilberg,
Edited by the Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft
544 pages and 514 illustrations
Berlin (Hatje Cantz Verlag) 2017
ISBN 978-3-7757-4173-6 (English edition)
ISBN 978-3-7757-4172-9 (German edition)