Heemskerk 1498 - Haarlem 1574
The son of a farmer, Maarten van Heemskerck was forced to escape from the family farm to dedicate himself to his art. His escape led him first to Delft then rapidly to Utrecht, where the much renowned Jan van Scorel worked. The discovery of classical art, thanks to his new master, fascinated the young Maarten. Tradition tells of how the progress of the young pupil was such that the jealous van Scorel threw him out of his studio. The first works of van Heemskerck were certainly so like his master’s that they could barely be told apart.
Whether he was thrown out or not, Maarten van Heemskerck naturally decided to go to Rome in 1532. His encounter with classical and renaissance Italian art would make him a true ambassador of Italian mannerism in the provinces of Northern Europe. For three years, he stayed with Cardinal Willem van Enckenvoirt, the Dutch Pope Adrian VI's right-hand man. The painter constantly sketched, drew and painted ruined monuments, classical sculptures and Roman landscapes.
Strongly influenced by Michelangelo and Raphael, van Heemskerck acquired an important place amongst the Flemish and Dutch painters of the time as soon as he returned: public buildings and churches were decorated with his frescoes. He became dean of the Utrecht guild of painters in 1540. Maarten van Heemskerck was known for his great historical paintings as well as his compositions for stained-glass windows. Many of his works were destroyed during the civil war and the religious wars that tore apart the Netherlands. Those that remain (in the museums of Amsterdam, Berlin and Utrecht) bear witness to the remarkable influence of Italian art on painting in the Netherlands in the first half of the 16th century.
