Crispijn de Passe the elder

Born c. 1564, in Armuyden (Zealand); died 1635 or 6 March 1637.

Painter, draughtsman, engraver (burin). Religious subjects, figures, portraits.

Antwerp School, Utrecht School.

Crispin van de Passe I probably studied under Dirk Coornhert; he entered the Antwerp guild in 1585 as a master copper engraver. He also worked in Cologne (where he married Magdalena Bock) and, for many years, in Utrecht, after becoming a citizen of that city in 1613. He remarried in 1636 to the widow of Sebastiaengen Hendriksdr. van Asch.

Van Passe's body of work is extensive, chiefly portraiture. His pupils included his sons Crispin II, Simon and Wilhelm, together with his daughter Magdalena. Several of his works were shown in London, Paris and Frankfurt, though it is not known whether he ever worked in those cities.

"PASSE DE OUDE, Crispin van de I, the Elder." In Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/benezit/B00136714 (accessed May 8, 2012).