This Dutch painter was invited to Spain by Charles V., and accompanied
that monarch on his expedition to Tunis, of which he preserved some
scenes that were afterwards transferred to Brussels tapestries. He
followed the court for many years, and exercised his art with honor and
profit, in portrait, landscape, and sacred subjects. The palace of the
Prado was adorned with a number of his works, particularly eight
pictures representing the Imperial progresses in Germany, and Views of
Madrid, Valladolid, Naples, and London; all of which perished in the
fire of 1608. Vermeyen was an especial favorite of Charles V., who
ordered his bust to be executed in marble, "for the sake of the gravity
and nobleness of his countenance." He was very remarkable for his long
beard, which gained him the surname of _El Barbudo_ or _Barbalonga_. In
fact, so very lengthy was this beard, that Descamps says the Emperor in
his playful moods used to amuse himself by treading on it, as it trailed
on the ground!