(b ?Gouda, 1523–4; d Bruges, 30 Jan 1584). Flemish painter, draughtsman, cartographer, surveyor and civil engineer. According to van Mander, who must have been a good friend, in his early youth Pieter Pourbus settled in Bruges, a prosperous town that offered excellent prospects for artists. Pourbus was registered as a (foreign) master in the Bruges Guild of St Luke in 1543 and soon emerged as the leading artist of his generation in the city. He took an active part in public life: he was involved with the rhetoricians, was a member of the archers’ company of St Joris (from 1544) and was repeatedly appointed an officer in the painters’ guild—six times vinder (committee member) and twice dean (1569–70 and 1580–81). He was apparently also dean in the year he died. In 1580 he was appointed wijkmeester (chairman of the district) of St Nicolaas Zestendeel, where he lived. After his death, his widow received a government pension, and a portrait of him hung in the guildhall. He appears to have had a special relationship with the Bruges magistrates, for whom he executed most of his cartographic commissions, although the Spaniards in Bruges were also an important group of patrons for him.

Part of the Pourbus family

• Pourbus, Pieter (Jansz.)
  • Blondeel, Lanceloot
  • Bruges, §II: Art life and organization
  • Pourbus
  • pupils
    • Claeissins
    • Pourbus: (2) Frans Pourbus (i)
    • Pourbus: (3) Frans Pourbus (ii)
  • works
    • Belgium, §III, 3(i)(a): Painting, c 1550–c 1600
    • Epitaph
    • Justice scenes, §1: The Last Judgement
    • Provoost, Jan
    • Tomb, §VI, 2(ii): Western world, before c 1600: Wall tombs