Antoon Overlaet
Dutch, 1720-1774
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Antoon Overlaet was a draftsman and engraver in Austrian Brabant.
In addition to his own compositions, Overlaet mainly worked after masters from the last century. He produced an enormous number of drawings that were in great demand in Antwerp. His pen skillfully imitated paintings and engravings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Teniers, Brouwer, Lievens, and Van Ostade.
In 1761, Overlaet was registered as a master engraver with the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke . His early biographers doubted whether his work could generate enough money to live on and believed that he was a bread baker by profession. However, this does not seem to be easily reconciled with his productivity. In addition to drawings and engravings, Overlaet provided the calligraphy and illustrations of the Golden Books in which the parish brotherhoods annually incorporated the new board from 1757 until the end of his life.