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Wtewael was most likely born in Utrecht, where, according to Carel van Mander, he began his career as a glass maker and glass engraver with his father. In 1586, he began six years of voyaging through France and Italy, in the company of the bishop of St. Malo, Charles de Bourgneuf de Cucé.
Returning to Utrecht in 1592 at the age of twenty-five, Wtewael joined the saddlemakers’ guild as a painter and began producing paintings, drawings, engravings, and stained glass. One of the last Mannerist painters, Wtewael stuck to the tradition even as most painters adopted the naturalistic style. In 1596 he had a son Peter Wtewael, who became a painter as well.
Wtewael was one of the leading Dutch exponents of Northern Mannerism. His highly distinctive, charmingly artificial style, which remained untouched by the naturalistic developments happening around him, was characterized by acidic colours and elegant figures in wilfully distorted poses. The best collection of his work, including a self-portrait (1601), is in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht. undefined