William Rogers (engraver)
William Rogers (born c. 1545,[1] active c. 1589–1604)[2] was an English engraver. A Citizen of the City of London – one of his surviving engravings is signed Anglus et Civis Lond(oniensis). – he is the first English craftsman known to have practised engraving and the greatest portrait engraver of the Tudor period.[2] The English were extremely late in coming to printmaking, though several artists from the thriving Flemish industry had worked in England already; the engraved print had been invented over 150 years before Rogers began to produce them. Rogers was also a goldsmith, and presumably acquired his technique in that context. His portrait style reflects Flemish models, while his backgrounds are often "overloaded with ornament" that is "redolent of the goldsmith's shop".[3]
Rogers is known for his engraved portraits of Queen
Elizabeth I as Rosa Electa, of which the two surviving impressions are in the
Rogers also engraved a version of the large allegorical picture of Henry VIII and his family attributed to Lucas de Heere, now at Sudeley Castle.[2][5] Rogers' print, of which only three impressions are known, shows Elizabeth in the updated fashions of the 1590s and adds verses at the bottom making explicit the contrast between Mary I's marriage and its accompanying war on the left, and Elizabeth's virginity accompanied by Peace and Plenty on the right.[6]
Rogers engraved numerous portraits, title-pages, and illustrations for books, among these being the titles to
Rogers' work shows him to have been a trained artist in the art of engraving. He is mentioned by Francis Meres in his Palladis Tamia (1598): "As Lysippus, Praxiteles, and Pyrgoteles were excellent engravers, so have we these engravers: Rogers, Christopher Switzer, and Cure."
Gallery
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Eliza Triumphans (1589), British Library
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Elizabeth I as Rosa Electa, Bodleian Library
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The Family of Henry VIII (c. 1597)
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Iohn Huighen van Linschoten, his Discours of Voyages into ye Easte & West Indies,Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
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The discription of the Islandes and Castle of Mozambique (1598), British Museum
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Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1598–1600), British Museum
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George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland (1595–1600), British Museum
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Knights Hospitallers, (1595-1602)
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Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, (1595-1602)
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Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, (1595-1602)
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Henricus Borbonius 4 Rex Franciæ et Navarræ Ordin. S. Spiritus Eques Supremus (1602), British Museum
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The coats of arms of sixty-eight kingdoms, cities and towns around the world (after 1603), British Museum
References
- ^ "Rogers, William". Getty Union List of Artist Names. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g Edmond, Mary. "Rogers, William (i)". Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ISBN 0-486-20954-7
- ^ "Rosa Electa by William Rogers". Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ^ "The Family of Henry VIII: an Allegory of the Tudor Succession". Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-333-93084-7. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cust, Lionel Henry (1896). "Rogers, William (fl.1580-1610)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 45. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 145.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Works by William Rogers in the National Portrait Gallery, London
- British Museum collection database search for William Rogers without quotes, using a date range, and ticking "production information" – 32 images.