Michael Vandergucht

Who was Michael Vandergucht?

Michael Vandergucht was a Flemish engraver who worked for most of his career in England.

Vandergucht was born in Antwerp, where he became a pupil of Philibert Bouttats. He joined the Antwerp artists' guild, the Guild of St Luke, in 1673. He moved to England before July 1688, where he engraved portraits, book illustrations, and architectural prints. He trained his sons Gerard Vandergucht and Jan Vandergucht as engravers, and also George Vertue. He died at his house in his house, the Golden Head in Queen Street, Bloomsbury, and was buried in the churchyard of St Giles-in-the-Fields.

Michael kept to a restrained form of engraving, without etching, but was surpassed by his son Gerard, who became one of the leading engravers in London, following the French method of combining precise engraving with the etched tones. Gerard had over 30 children, including Benjamin Vandergucht, a painter and art dealer.