(b Antwerp, 21 Mar. 1546; d Prague, 1611). Netherlandish painter and designer who had an international career and played an important part in the spread of Mannerism in northern Europe. He trained in Antwerp, where he came under the influence of Frans Floris, then travelled via France to Italy, where he spent a decade (1565–75), mainly in Rome. After five years in Vienna, he finally settled in Prague, where he was appointed court painter by the emperor Rudolf II (see Habsburg) in 1581. His paintings are often of mythological or allegorical subjects and are highly polished and sophisticated—close in style to those of his fellow court painter Hans von Aachen. Spranger had met van Mander in Rome and through drawings that he gave him his style was carried to Haarlem.