Bartholomeus Spranger was a Flemish painter from Antwerp who worked in Paris at the same time as Francesco Primaticcio and Niccolo dell' Abbate, and in Rome as an assistant to Taddeo Zuccaro, and in 1575 for the Emperor Maximilian II of Vienna.

He was a typical representative of late Mannerism, using numerous nude figures in unlikely attitudes to fill his compositions, which derive ultimately from Correggio and Parmigianino.

The engravings of Hendrick Goltzius made his works very widely known. In Haarlem he also influenced Cornelis Cornelisz and in Utrecht Joachim Wtewael.

He later worked for Rudolf II in Prague, where he died in 1611.