Abraham, painter of landscape, cattle, hitherto, and portrait, was born at Gorcum in 1564, according to Houbraken: but according to Sandrart, whose authority seems to claim the preference, he was born in 1567, and lived mostly at Utrecht. In his youth he applied himself diligently to design after the works of Francis Floris, and afterwards received instructions from several artists of no great repute; but the power of his own genius proved his principal director in the art of painting. He formed a manner peculiar to himself, making nature his model for many of the objects he painted, particularly his cattle, in which he excelled. He died in 1647. He left four sons Bloemart, sons who were all of them artists; but the most famous was Cornelius, the subject of the following article.

Cornelius, the youngest son of Abraham, was born in 1603 at Utrecht. The first principles of drawing and painting he learned from his father; but his natural inclination for the art of engraving was so powerful, that he applied himself wholly to the pursuit of it. He first studied under Crispin de Pals, an engraver much more famous for the neatness than the good taste of his works. Not satisfied with what he learned from this artist, he went to Rome, in order to perfect himself from the works of the greatest masters: And in that city (where the far greater part of his engravings were made) he died in a very advanced age.—"The manner of engraving, adopted by this excellent artist, appears to me (says Mr Strutt) to be not only quite original, but the source from which we may trace that style in which the greatest and best French masters excelled; those I mean who worked with the graver only. He covered the lights upon his distances, and the other parts of his plates which required tinting, with great care. The lights, whether on the distant hills, trees, buildings, or figures, in the engravings prior to his time, had been left quite clear, and by so many white spots scattered in various parts of the same design, the harmony was destroyed, the subject confused, and the principal figures prevented from relieving with any striking effect. By this judicious improvement, Bloemart gave to his prints a more clear and finished appearance, than all the laboured neatness even of Jerom Wierix had been able to produce. He drew correctly: but from his style of engraving, which was executed entirely with the graver, the extremities of his figures are heavy, and his heads are not always equally beautiful or expressive. With respect to the mechanical part of the works, few indeed have excelled him, either in clearness, or freedom of execution. His great fault, however, is want of variety. The naked parts of his figures, the draperies, and the back-ground, are equally neat, and engraved precisely in the same manner. Hence the effect is flat; and the flesh, for want of sufficient distinction, appears cold and silvery. His works are justly held in high estimation. They are very numerous, and many of them difficult to be procured."