# Claes Jansz. Visscher artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/claes-jansz-visscher/
Profile generated: 2026-05-25T04:33:36.412Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Death date: 1652
- Nationality: Dutch
- Movements: Dutch Golden Age
- Common media: engraving, etching, cartographic prints and maps, drawings

## About Claes Jansz. Visscher

Claes Jansz. Visscher (1586/87–1652) was a Dutch Golden Age draughtsman, engraver, mapmaker, and print publisher based in Amsterdam. He founded the Visscher family cartographic and publishing firm, one of the most successful mapmaking enterprises of the seventeenth-century Netherlands. His output ranged from finely engraved maps and atlases to topographical prints and landscape views, which circulated widely across Europe. Visscher's published works are notable for combining geographic precision with decorative richness, and his views of Dutch cities and landscapes remain important visual records of the period. The firm he established was continued by his son Nicolaes Visscher and subsequent generations before its eventual sale to the publisher Peter Schenk. Collectors and institutions today encounter his prints and maps in major museum and library collections worldwide.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Claes Jansz. Visscher's engraved and etched maps, including world and regional cartographic sheets; topographical prints of Dutch, English, and other European cities and landscapes; allegorical and decorative title-page engravings; and landscape series after designs by contemporary artists. Works are typically found as individual prints, bound atlas sheets, or loose maps. Mediums include copperplate engraving and etching on laid paper, often with period hand-coloring added by later owners.

## Market and appraisal context

Visscher's engraved maps, city views, and topographical prints appear regularly at auction, typically categorized as Old Master Prints or Maps & Atlases. Value depends on the specific map or print series, impression quality, plate state, paper condition, and whether the work is an early pull or a later re-issue by his descendants or Peter Schenk. Rare or early-state impressions of his more elaborate maps and landscape series tend to command higher prices. Attribution can be complicated by the family workshop practice; collectors should verify whether a work is by Visscher personally or published under the Visscher firm imprint.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine researched artist identity from museum, library, and authority sources with available auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data. For Claes Jansz. Visscher, identity data is drawn from Getty ULAN, VIAF, Wikidata, RKD, and published reference sources. Market observations are general and should not substitute for a professional appraisal.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1094674
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claes_Jansz._Visscher
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500015243
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/19860086/
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/81246
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80024100