Andreas Cellarius (1596 - 1665) was a Dutch-German cartographer, mathematician, and astronomer. He was born in Neuhausen (now a part of Worms), and was educated in Heidelberg. Cellarius, being Protestant, may have left Heidelberg in 1618, at the onset of the Thirty Years' War, or slightly later, in 1622, when the city fell to Catholics. His activities are unclear at this time but based on his later works it is conjectured he spent time in Poland where he may have taken work as a military engineer. In 1625. he married Catharina Eltemans in Amsterdam, where he taught Latin. After a brief stay in The Hague, the family moved to Hoorn. From 1637 until his death he was rector of the Hoorn Latin School. Today Cellarius is best known for his Harmonia Macrocosmica of 1660, a major celestial atlas, published in Amsterdam by Johannes Janssonius. More by this mapmaker...

Johannes van Loon (c. 1611 - 1686), also known as Jan van Loon, was a Dutch mapmaker, mathematician, and engraver active in Amsterdam during the middle part of the 17th century. Van Loon issued the exceptional nautical atlas Klaer-Lichtende Noort-Ster ofte Zee Atlas in 1661. His is also known to have engraved several plates of Cellarius's Harmonia Macrocosmica Seu Atlas and to have contributed maps to nautical atlases and pilot books by Jacobsz, Jan Jansson, Johannes Janssonius van Waesbergen, and Robijin. Little is known of his personal life. Learn More...

Dirk Jansz Van Santen (1637/38 – May 23, 1708) was the foremost map and print colorist of the Dutch Golden Age, celebrated for his aesthetic sophistication, progressive use of color, hand-mixed pigments, and lavish application of gold. Born in Amsterdam to the prosperous bookseller Jan Jansz van Santen, little is known about his early life, though gaps in documentation suggest he may have spent time in France. In 1675, he married Janneke Martens of Nijmegen. He worked for the wealthy collector Laurens van der Hem (1621 - 1678), notably coloring an eleven-volume Atlas Maior by Blaeu, now held by the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. From at least 1688, Van Santen was a member of the Amsterdam Sint Lucasgilde - an artisan guild that also included Rembrandt - indicating he may have operated his own studio, accepting commissions and selling colored pieces directly. His brilliance was well recognized in his time; his work was coveted by royalty and praised in verse, yet like most colorists of the era, he seldom signed his pieces. Today, knowledge of his work comes from scattered sources - civil records, auction catalogs, private collections, and rare bookseller notices - making direct attribution challenging. A renewed scholarly interest in the 1970s, led by Fontaine Verwey and W. K. Gnirrep, helped identify his style and catalog examples in major libraries. Though few works can be definitively credited to him, Van Santen's legacy is recognizable through his unique visual language. Learn More...