The principal source for the life and work of de Heere is
Het Schilder-Boeck written by his pupil
Karel van Mander first published in 1604 in
Haarlem in the
Dutch Republic, where van Mander resided in the latter part of his life. Lucas de Heere was born in
Ghent, the second son of Jan de Heere, a sculptor, and Anna Smijters, a miniaturist. He was trained by his father. His brother Jan was apprenticed as a painter's apprentice to the local artist Gerard Hoorenbault. He also had four sisters. (1573-1575) After the citizens of Ghent revolted against their ruler emperor
Charles V, the city's privileges were abolished by the
Carolinian Concession in 1540. As a result, the power of the guilds was broken and artistic activity came to a standstill. Against this background, Jan de Heere sent his son Lucas to Antwerp to study under the leading Flemish painter and draughtsman of his time,
Frans Floris. This was likely also the time when he started composing poetry. Upon his return to Ghent likely around 1556, he established a school of painting. One of his students was
Karel van Mander. In 1559, he and his father were commissioned by the Ghent magistrate with the decoration of St John's Church - now
St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent - on the occasion of the reunion of the 23rd Chapter of the
Golden Fleece. Lucas completed for this commission the painting
King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba in which Solomon is given the features of king
Philip II of Spain. Around 1560, he married
Eleonore Carboniers. with a
halberdier in the livery of
Elizabeth I, 1567. After the
Spanish Netherlands revolted against
Philip II of Spain in 1568 because of his suppression of the followers of the
Reformation movement, De Heere went to
France, where he was reportedly employed by
Catherine de' Medici to assist in the design of the
Valois Tapestries. He then traveled to
England, where he became an elder of the Dutch
stranger church at
Austin Friars. In 1570, he was employed by
Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln to paint a gallery and depict the clothing and costumes of various nations. After the
Pacification of Ghent in 1576, he was able to return home, if only for a while. He was once again forced to leave the city in 1584, when Ghent surrendered to Spanish
Habsburg forces. He was very popular during his career and became immensely rich. His portrait of
Katheryn of Berain is held by the
National Museum Cardiff. He painted a head of Philip II from the life in 1553, as a letter of
Cardinal Granvelle documents (
Prado). In 1559 he painted by order of the chancellor
Viglius van Aytta Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, which was commissioned for the choir of
St Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent before the celebration of the twenty-third chapter of the
Order of the Golden Fleece, conserved
in situ. In England he trained other Flemish immigrants:
John de Critz, probably
Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, and possibly as well the English
Robert Peake the Elder. Some time between 1573 and 1575 he visited
Stonehenge. His watercolor sketch (now in the
British Library) is the earliest known realistic depiction of the site. == Publications ==