Hermelindie

Hermelinde, one of 24 prints from the series Solitudo Sive Vitae Foeminarum Anachoritarum (Female Hermits in Landscapes)(engraving)
Print made and published by Adriaen Collaert, image after Maerten de Vos.
Netherlandish
circa 1580
6 3/4 x 8 13/16 inches

Different periods of the life of this hermitess is shown in this engraving. In front, Hermelinde prays in a small hut-like chapel on a river island. At right, she is accompanied by an angel on the banks of the river. In background, her body is placed in a coffin. She is the daughter of a well to do family in Brabant in the 6th century. She avoided an arranged marriage by escaping to a withdrawn life of penance and prayer near the town of Meldert. The "lindis" part of the name refers to a shield made of linden wood (the common material at that time for shields). So the meaning of her name was "mighty fighter with the shield".

Adriaen Collaert (1560-1618) was an engraver and major publisher in Antwerp. His father was Jan Collaert. He married a daughter of Philips Galle, another engraver and publisher, in 1586. He was active in the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp.