HEYDEN, Pieter van der

Flemish engraver, also known as Petrus a Merica or Pieter Verheyden. In 1555 he became master of the GuildGLOSSARYAn association of the masters of a particular craft, trade or profession (painters, goldsmiths, surgeons, and so on) set up to protect its members' rights and interests. Such guilds existed in virtually every European city in the 16th century. The guild also monitored standards of work, acted as a court for those who brought their trade into disrepute, and provided assistance to members in need. of St Luke. From the mid-1550s to about 1570 he worked for the publisher Hieronymus Cock in Antwerp, who was among the earliest print publishers in the Netherlands. Pieter van der Heyden produced more than 150 prints for the Cock publishing house, reproducing the designs of Bosch, Bruegel and other Flemish artists such as Hans Bol, Frans Floris and Lambert Lombard.