Brief Biography-Karel Van Mander was born in Meulebeke; he visited Rome in 1575 and Vienna in 1577. Then, in 1583, he moved to Haarlem, where he set up an academy with Cornelis Cornelisz and Hendrik Goltzius; it favoured Italianate teachings. Van Mander was a poet, painter, and writer primarily noted for his book Het Schilder-Boeck, The Book of Painters, 1604. When his book was published, he settled in Amsterdam, where he died two years later. Het Schilder-Boeck is in three parts; the first is several biographies of northern European artists, and the second is a translation of Vasari’s Lives of the Most Excellent Painters. Finally, the third part discusses theories on painting for artists. His biographies were the only source of information on many Netherlandish and German painters up to 1604.
His son Karel van Mander, the Younger, 1579-1623, born in Courtrai, was also a successful artist and his son of the same name was designated painter to the Danish court. He died in Delft in 1672.