Other designers in decorative art who lived during the second half of the sixteenth century were Mark Geraerts (1530–90); Hendrick van Schoel; Martin de Vos (1531–1603); G. Tielt (1580–1630); Cornelius Grapheus (1549-?); Baltazar Silvius (circ. 1554); Guilhelmus de la Queweelerie (circ. 1560); Peter Miricenis (1520–66); Hans Bol (1535–93); Abraham de Bruyn (1538-?); Crispin de Passe, the Elder (1536-?); Peter van der Borcht (1540–1608); Peter Baltens (1540–79); Paul van Wtanvael (circ. 1570); Nicholas de Bruyn (1560–1635); Clement Perrete (circ. 1569); Assuerus van Londerseel (b. 1548); Jerome Wierix (b. 1551); John Wierix (b. 1550); John Sadeler (1550–1610); Raphael Sadeler (1555–1628); Ægidius Sadeler (1570–1629); Dominic Custode (b. 1560); Ger. Groningus; Cornelis Galle (1570–1641); Philip Galle (1537–1612); Theodore Galle (b. 1560); Cornelis Dankherts (b. 1561); John Sambuci (circ. 1574); Francis Sweert (circ. 1690); Jodocus Hondius (1563–1611); James Hannervogt, and some anonymous engravers.
Fig. 19: Bed, by J. Straden; Figs 20–22: Tables, by De Vries; Fig. 23: Chair and Footstool, by De Vries; Figs. 24–25: Flemish Chairs.
Of the above, the most prolific were the Galles. They were particularly rich in frames, but their ornamentation already shows signs of the Decadence; and the work of Philip alone shows traces of the pure Renaissance. Most of these masters of ornamental design were natives of, or were attracted to, Antwerp; though some of them travelled far afield. Custode worked at Augsburg; Ægidius Sadeler died at Prague; Geraerts died in England; Cornelius Bos worked in Rome; and Crispin de Passe, the Elder, worked in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Cologne, Paris and London.
In the second period of the Renaissance, the general effect is more severe and geometrical; the projections are more restrained, and the general form of furniture more rectangular. The vertical lines are more conspicuous than the horizontal lines; and columns with elongated shafts and delicate flutings or grooves replace human figures that in the first period of the Renaissance act as uprights and supports. The bed on Plate [XIV] is a good example of the second period.
There is also during the second period a great, and often elegant, use of ceramics. Some pieces of furniture, particularly cabinets, are decorated with incrustations of stones, amber, enamelled work and even Venetian glass.
Gothic decoration still lingers for a time in the ordinary bedsteads (see Plate [X]) but those of the new fashion show all the popular ornaments of the Renaissance. Caryatides sometimes appear as columns; and sometimes and ever more frequently as time wears on, slender pillars cut in the form of balusters, lances or distaffs, often grooved, and more or less decorated with carving. Later in the century, the columns are frequently enveloped in the same material as the hangings, which become so important that the sculptor and joiner give place to the upholsterer and embroiderer. The beds are so high, or built so high with mattresses, that it is impossible to get into them without the aid of bed-steps.
A glance at Plate [II] will inform us that the bed of the fifteenth century depends more for its effect upon the curtains and other draperies than on the framework. In the time of the Renaissance, we find the bedstead of supreme importance. It is carved in the richest fashion, and is often enriched with gilding and painting; it is also adorned with marquetry. The mattresses, bolsters and pillows are of down or feathers, the sheets and blankets of finest linen and wool, for which Flanders is famous; and the hangings are of silk, velvet, tapestry, serge, or gilded leather. The Renaissance bed is never allowed to stand in an alcove: it is far too handsome a piece of furniture for that. Its canopy, often richly carved, is rectangular and exactly the size of the bed, which is large; and it is no longer suspended by cords from the ceiling, but rests on carved or grooved columns. It is usually finished with a projecting cornice, variously ornamented, and to this cornice the curtains are attached. In Fig. 19 and Plate [XII], we see exactly how these curtains were hung. These beds, from engravings by J. Stradan (1578), also show us how the curtains were looped up in the daytime, how the square pillows were placed formally at the foot of the bed, and the shape of the round bolster. These beds could be completely enclosed by curtains.
Plate XII.—Bedstead, Chairs and Table, by J. Stradan.