Crispin van de Passe II (Dutch, active in Paris, c. 1597-1670)

Maneige Royal

Crispin van de Passe II (c. 1597-1670) was one of the four children of Dutch patriarch publisher Crispin van de Passe (c. 1564-1637) who worked in the family business. Like his father and siblings, de Passe II specialized in portraits, book illustrations and other commissioned graphic works.  In 1623, while he was working in Paris, de Passe II completed a series of illustrations for Antoine de Pluvinel's Maneige Royal (later titled Instruction du Roi à l’exercise, a handbook on horsemanship for the king.)  These large illustrations are notable for their unusual combination of print processes: the images consist of engraved plates within an architecturally-inspired woodcut border. In A History of Engraving and Etching, historian Arthur M. Hind calls de Passe II's illustrations for Maneige Royal "perhaps the best achievement of any member of the family." (p. 123-124.)

• Related Links: Francis Barlow, L.Beck/H.Burgkmair, Jacques Callot, Stefano Della Bella, Wenceslas Hollar, Manuscripts and Miniatures, 15th-16th Century European, 17th Century European