Cornelis Floris de Vriendt

Cornelis Floris or Cornelis (II) Floris De Vriendt (1514 – 20 October 1575) was a Flemish sculptor, print artist and architect. He developed a new style, which was informed by Flemish traditions, the 16th century Italian renaissance and possibly the School of Fontainebleau. His innovations spread throughout Northern Europe where they had a major influence on the development of sculpture and architecture in the 16th and early 17th centuries.

Cornelis Floris II was born around the year 1514 as the eldest of the four sons of Cornelis I and Margarete Goos. The earliest known ancestors of the Floris de Vriendt family, then still called only ‘de Vriendt’, were residents of Brussels where they practiced the craft of stonemason and stonecutter which was passed on from father to son. One of Cornelis' ancestors became in 1406 a master of the Brussels stonemasons guild. A family member, Jan Florisz. (abbreviation of Floriszoon, meaning Floris’s son) de Vriendt, left his native Brussels and settled in Antwerp in the mid 15th century. His patronymic name ‘Floris’ became the common family name of the subsequent generations. The original form ‘de Vriendt’ can, however, still be found in official documents until the late 16th century.

Little is known about his training. He probably worked in the workshop of his father who was a stonemason. He traveled abroad and was reportedly in Italy when his father died in 1538. He then returned to Antwerp to take care of his mother and younger brothers. In 1539 he became a master in the local Guild of Saint Luke. He served as the dean of the Guild in 1547 and 1559. At around 1540 the guild register was embellished with grotesque initials which were signed by Cornelis. These grotesque motives, that were inspired by Italian contemporary models which in turn were based on archeological finds in Rome, would become an important characteristic of the Floris style and were used by him (as well as his brother Frans) in his other works.

In 1550 Floris married Elisabeth Machiels and bought a house in Antwerp that he renovated in his own style.

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