Biography

Horenbout: South Netherlandish family of artists, active in England.

After achieving some considerable success as a painter and illuminator in Ghent, in the service of Margaret of Austria, Gerard Horenbout moved to England with his wife and their children. This must have occurred some time between 1522 and 1525, when the name of his son Lucas Horenbout first appeared in the royal household accounts of King Henry VIII. Gerard's daughter Susanna Horenbout was one of the many early women artists who were active in family workshops but whose works are no longer known.

Gerard was a painter, designer and cartographer. He was admitted into the guild of painters and illuminators in Ghent in 1487. He became a versatile and productive artist, painting altarpieces, portraits and illuminated manuscripts, and designing tapestries and stained-glass windows. He also collaborated with the nuns of the convent of Galilee near Ghent making a model garden with flowers made of cloth that he delivered to Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands, at her court in Mechelen. He seems to achieved a degree of wealth commensurate with his output. At least three of his six children were active in his workshop from 1521 onwards. In 1512 Margaret of Austria appointed him court painter, with a permission to maintain his workshop at Ghent. That Gerard moved to England at the age of nearly 60 may have been due to financial stringency at the court of Mechelen. It is uncertain whether he ever returned to Flanders.

His known works include illuminations in the Book of Hours of Bona Sforza (1519-20, British Library, London). The reconstruction of his oeuvre is difficult.