Willem Key (1516-1568): portrait of a humanist painter : with an appendix to the oeuvre of Adriaen Thomasz. Key

Abstract

This is the first monograph to place Willem Key and his oeuvre in a historical framework. It demonstrates why the nobility, including the Duke of Alba and Cardinal Granvelle, considered him the best portrait painter of his day and why leading humanists viewed his many history paintings as eloquent visualizations of contemporary art theory. The reason why Willem Key's peers regarded him as such an exceptional painter lay in his creative ability to do battle on an uneven playing field with the artists who had been to Italy. In his reconciliation of the Netherlandish tradition with the rapidly advancing Italian manner, Key grasped the spirit of the Renaissance as formulated by Alberti. The quintessence of Key's art inspired numerous artists in his own time and later, including the grandmaster of the Baroque, Pieter Paul Rubens.