Pieter van der Borcht II

Pieter van der Borcht II (1545 – 1608) was born in the city of Malines, southwest of Antwerp. By 1565 Borcht was working as an illustrator for Christopher Plantin, who had his press in Antwerp. In 1572 the Spanish Duke of Alva sacked the town in an attempt to maintain order and suppress Calvinist and other Reformation heresies. He moved his family to Antwerp. From his arrival there until his death he worked full time for Plantin, illustrating the many liturgical books the press produced. Van der Borcht was largely forgotten until relatively recently, when his work became more known through the Plantin archives at the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp.