Visscher II, Cornelis (1629-1658)

Cornelis Visscher (1629 in Haarlem – 1658 in Haarlem), was a Dutch Golden Age engraver and the brother of Jan de Visscher and Lambert Visscher.

Leading line-engraver and publisher. According to Houbraken he was an able etcher who made famous prints (in his lifetime), and who had an unusual talent for drawing after a live model with charcoal that was unparalleled. Houbraken mentioned that his works could be seen in the collection of the rich Dutch East India Company director and art collector in Amsterdam who had a large art cabinet, Jeronimus Tonneman. Prints by Visscher’s hand were made after various famous painters from Haarlem such as Nicolaes Berchem, Adriaen van Ostade, Pieter van Laer and Adriaen Brouwer.

According to the RKD he had two brothers, Jan de Visscher and Lambert Visscher (1633-ca.1690), and he was the pupil of Pieter Claesz Soutman. He made a series of portraits in print of religious figures from Amsterdam and Haarlem. He joined the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1653. He influenced Dirk Helmbreker and Cornelis Bega. His pupil was Jan Aelbertsz Riethoorn.

Kornelis de Visscher in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken,

RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History