Jeremias Falck

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Falck's engraving "Arcus Gratiae et Pacis, 1646" after a triumphal gate with Atlas and Hercules, built in Danzig

Jeremias Falck (also Jeremiah Falck in English, Jeremiasz Falck in Polish) (born possibly 1609/1610, possibly in Danzig (Gdańsk,Poland) - 1677) was a Polish^{[citation needed]} engraver of the 17th century Baroque.

According to his greatgrandson Herrman Eugen Falk, Jeremias was perhaps born in Danzig, Freistaat (Free State), perhaps 1609/1610 (other sources assume dates as late as 1619/1629) There are no exact records of his birth anywhere. There were Falck families in Thorn and in Danzig, but the Danzig pastors Falck were Evangelical, while Jeremias belonged to the reformed church. This was verified by Pastor Hoffmann of St.Petri, who wrote in answer to the request by H. Falk and J.C Block that J. Falck was buried 7 February 1677 at St. Petri in a plot, that formerly belonged to the Minckhaus family. The gravestone still shows "Hans Minckhaus und seine Erben Anno 1636"

Of about three hundred portraits and pictures, which were personally inspected by J.C. Block for his book, nearly all works show J. Falck, sculp., but there are some that identify him as Swedish sculptor, when he was in salaried employment in Sweden. There are also listed about nine copper-etching Portrait Ovals mostly of Polish Bishops by Falck alone or with name: Dankert or Georg Förster (Georg Forster). These nine metal ovals are mounted on rectangles and the rectangles are inscribed with "Jeremias Falck Polonus" see link below. It was customary for the artists to do the portraits in etchings, which were reprinted several times and received later identifications according to the status of the person at the present time. That way it was possible to use an artist's work several times for many years and different prints of one and the same person often show up with different wordings. In any event, how likely is it, that G.Förster and J. Falck "Polonus" could have signed these etchings together? After all Falck died in 1677 and Förster lived from 1754-1794.

Falck studied and worked with Wilhelm Hondius. In 1639 he moved to Paris, and in 1649 he became Royal Swedish engraver for Queen Christina in Sweden until 1654, when she became a Catholic. He then went to the Netherlands, were he engraved a portrait of Willem Blaeu, and to Germany. In 1662 in Hamburg he published 16 engravings of flowers and plants. He engraved the royals of the places he worked and he intermittendly worked in Danzig.

Jeremias' brother Hans Falck was as Messerschmidt (knife smith) at Neugarten, Danzig. In 1650 Jeremia's marriage in Danzig is recorded and later Hans and his Catharine were recorded as witnesses to the birth of Jeremias' child. A letter by Jeremias Falck from 1658 stated ...ich habe eine geraume Zeit sehr grosse Schmerzen im rechten Arm (...that for a long time he has great pain in his right arm)

He lived again in Danzig. Many of Falck's engravings are based on portraits by Daniel Schultz and other painters. Falck's work was admired and used by publisher Georg Forster, such as engraved illustrations for "Selenography" of Johannes Hevelius and "Orationes" of Jerzy Ossolinski, Chancellor and Holy Roman Empire SRI Prince.

The 1890 book with dedication by the great-grandson Herman Eugen Falk thanks a number of Polish writers who collected works by Falck.

Falck lies buried in St. Peter's and St. Paul's church.

[edit] Literature

Thieme-Becker, Bd. 11, S. 213-214
AKL, Band 36, 2003, S. 339
Block, J. C., Jeremias Falck, sein Leben und seine Werke: mit vollständigem alphabetischen und chronologischen Register sämmtlicher Blätter, sowie Reproductionen nach des Künstlers besten Stichen, C. Hinstorff (G. Ehrke) [1]