Jacques Jonghelinck, bronze sculptor of the Low Countries in the sixteenth century

Today, the sculptural oeuvre of Jacques Jonghelinck (1530-1606) is scattered over the world, and has not received much technical attention. A comparison between his works and that of Leone and Pompeo Leoni (1509-1590 and 1533-1608) tells us more about the impact of Italian bronze sculpture on the techniques of Netherlandish workshops, and helps determine the characteristics of Jonghelinck's bronzes. In both workshop practice and his use of materials, Jonghelinck clearly followed his Milanese employer. Alas, not that many monumental sculptures left the artist's workshop, but the pieces that did demonstrate his artistic resourcefulness. In this paper, particular attention is paid to the Planet Series to support this statement. Additionally, we argue that the artist might have been trained by an Augsburg master, as a result of which he would have become the perfect Renaissance bronze sculptor with an outstanding background in goldsmithing.