The German Academy, follows a similar format to earlier Northern European artists biographies previously mentioned. A section devoted to art theory; a commentary on the Roman poet Ovid’s work on classical mythology, The Metamorphosis - a ‘Bible’ of source material for early-modern European artists – and a description of Roman antiquities, followed by the biographies of the artists lives.
Like earlier biographers, Sandrat makes direct use of Vasari to cover Italian artists. Following his Northern European counterpart, Cornelis de Bie, Sandrat borrows heavily from the biographies of Van Mader for artists from the North of Europe.
The German Academy is broadly continental in nature, rather than regionally centred in biographical focus. This was due to the extensive travel Sandrat undertook all over Europe. Living off and on in the Netherlands meant he had close contact with a large portion of contemporary Dutch and Flemish artists. In addition he travelled throughout Holland with the famous Flemish painter, Peter Paul Rubens. He worked at the English court as a painter and also in Rome.
Since 2008 Sandrat’s The German Academy of the Noble Arts or Teutsche Academie has been available online. Sadly, like the majority of the biographies mentioned on this blog, only a few of the lives have been translated into English.
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