Biography

Floris, Cornelis II and Frans, the most distinguished members of a family of Flemish artists; their Antwerp workshops contributed significantly to the Northern Renaissance. Cornelis was an architect, sculptor, and medalist; Frans, a painter.

Both brothers studied in Rome in the 1540s and were soon at the head of flourishing workshops in Antwerp. Cornelis supplied the choir screen of Tournai Cathedral and the tombs of Danish kings Frederick I (Schleswig, Germany) and Christian II (Roskilde, Denmark). He designed the Antwerp town hall (1561-65); its amalgamation of a Gothic gable front with a Florentine palace facade became the model for Netherlandic town halls. Frans's success was even more phenomenal, thanks to his ability to organize an efficient picture-producing factory. His life-style was extravagant, and he died overwhelmed with debts.