Herkules und Cacus

1579–1587

Pupil: Jan Saenredam

late 1580s

Depression and consumption

From the late 1580s he suffered from depression and consumption; his family life was unhappy.

1585–1587

Pupil: Jacob de Gheyn II

1587

Founding of the Haarlem Academy

Together with Cornelis van Haarlem and Karel van Mander he founded an academy of art in Haarlem, later known as the Haarlem Mannerist Academy (some sources give 1583 or 1600). There, for the first time in the Netherlands, systematic study of anatomy and drawing from the nude model were introduced.

1590

Departure for Italy

He fled from his wife and, despite his illnesses, set out for Italy — via Hamburg and Munich to Venice, Bologna and Florence. Part of the way he traveled on foot, passing himself off as a commoner, "partly out of a love of mystification."