Christoffel Plantin. Oil on canvas. 80 x 62. Christophe Plantin was an influential French Renaissance humanist and book printer and publisher living and working in Antwerp. Plantin was born in France, probably in Saint-Avertin, near the city of Tours, Touraine. He was not born to a wealthy family, and his mother died when Plantin was still quite young. As a youth he apprenticed as a bookbinder in Caen, Normandy, and also married there. In 1545, he and his wife, Joanna Rivière, set up shop in Paris, but after three years they chose to relocate to the booming commercial center of Antwerp, where Plantin became a free citizen and a member of the Guild of St Luke, the guild responsible for painters, sculptors, engravers and printers. The quality of his work as a bookbinder brought him into contact with nobility and wealth. By 1549, he headed one of the most well-respected publishing houses in Europe. He was responsible for printing a wide range of titles, from Cicero to religious hymnals. While delivering a prestigious commission he was mistakenly attacked, receiving an arm wound that prevented him from labouring as a bookbinder and led him to concentrate on typography and printing. By 1555, he had his own printshop and was an accomplished printer. The first book he is known to have printed was La Institutione di una fanciulla nata nobilmente, by Giovanni Michele Bruto, with a French translation. This was soon followed by many other works in French and Latin, which in point of execution rivalled the best printing of his time. The art of engraving then flourished in the Netherlands, and Dutch engravers illustrated many of his editions. Antwerp was a dangerous place for publishers around this time. In 1561, the Spanish governor ordered a raid on Plantin's workshop for possibly housing heretical works and being a Protestant sympathizer. To avoid being jailed, Plantin quickly sold all of his works so nothing would be found in his possession. As soon as things calmed down around him, he bought them all back. In 1562, while Plantin was absent in Paris, his workmen printed a heretical pamphlet, which resulted in his presses and goods being seized and sold. It seems, however, that he eventually recovered much of the value that was taken from him. With the help of four Antwerp merchants he was able to re-establish and expand his printing business significantly. Among these friends were two grand-nephews of Daniel Bomberg, who furnished him with the fine Hebrew typefaces of that renowned Venetian printer.This co-venture only lasted until 1567 however it enabled Plantin to acquire a house in the Hoogstraat which he named De Gulden Passer. This gesture mirrors the commercial success of publishing emblem books, which present collections of images paired with short, often cryptic, text explanations. It is also at this time that Plantin adopted a printer's mark which would appear in various forms on the title pages of all Plantin Press books. The motto Labore et Constantia surrounds the symbol of a compass held by a hand extending from a bank of clouds and inscribing a circle. The center point of the compass indicates constancy, the moving point which renders the circle is the labor. Plantin holds this instrument in portraits of him, such as the one commissioned from the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens. In November 1576, the Spaniards ruthlessly plundered and burned Antwerp, essentially ending its supremacy as the commercial center and richest city of Europe, and Plantin had to pay an exorbitant ransom to protect his printing works. He established a branch of his firm in Paris. In 1583, the states of Holland sought a typographer for the newly erected university at Leiden. Plantin moved there after leaving his much reduced business in Antwerp to his sons-in-law John Moerentorf and Frans van Ravelingen. Plantin left his Leiden office to Raphelengius and returned to Antwerp after it became more settled, subsequent to its conquest by the prince of Parma in 1585. Plantin laboured in Antwerp until his death. Plantin was a prolific printer and prosperous entrepreneur, publishing more than 40 editions of emblem books. His most important work is considered to be the Biblia Regia, also known as the Plantin Polyglot. Facing increasing pressure and turmoil in the Netherlands, Plantin needed to find a patron that would not fall victim to claims of heresy or being a Protestant sympathizer. In spite of clerical opposition, Plantin was encouraged by King Philip II of Spain, who sent him the learned Benito Arias Montano to lead the editorship. The Polyglot Bible has parallel texts in Latin, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, and Hebrew.