Dutch draughtsman, engraver, and painter. He was born at Antwerp and was probably a pupil of his father Jacob de Gheyn I (c. 1530-82), a glass painter and miniaturist. From c. 1585 to 1590 he studied with Hendrick Goltzius. He worked for the Court of Orange at The Hague, and designed the grotto (the earliest in the Netherlands) and other ornamentation of Buitenhof, the garden of Prince Maurice. His drawings and engravings are of greater importance than his paintings, for in their spontaneity and informality they are outstanding documents of the period of transition from Mannerism to naturalism in Dutch art. His son Jacob de Gheyn III (c. 1596-1641) was also an engraver, specializing in mythological subjects. //