Maarten van Heemskerck, Rotterdam

Maarten van Heemskerck – Ancient Rome Relives
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
11 February – 3 June 2012

This spring, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen will be exhibiting prints, paintings and drawings by Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574), in two rooms. Sketches made by Van Heemskerck during his visit to Rome are used to provide insight into the sources of inspiration of the artist from Haarlem. Central to the exhibition is the oil painting ‘Self portrait with Colosseum’, painted by Van Heemskerck in 1553, which has been specially loaned for this exhibition from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

Trip to Rome
Maarten van Heemskerck began his trip to Rome in 1532. Once there, he was inspired by the remains of classic antiquity and the work of the great masters of the Italian renaissance.
He filled sketchbooks with his studies of classical architecture, ruins and ancient sculptures.
His trip followed in the footsteps of other Dutch artists such as Jan Gossaert (c. 1478-1532) and his teacher Jan van Scorel (1495-1562).

Self portrait with Colosseum
Maarten van Heemskerck painted ‘Self portrait with Colosseum’ in 1553, many years after returning from Rome. The painting shows his self portrait, with a painting of the ruins of the Colosseum in the background: this was, according to the artist, the ultimate symbol of ancient Rome. A figure is sketching before the ruins, and the figure shows a remarkable likeness with the artist himself. This ‘painting in a painting’ shows the influence classical antiquity had on the oeuvre of the artist and forms the basis for the selection of the works in the exhibition.

Classical quotes
The impressions Maarten van Heemskerck acquired during his stay in Rome can often be found in the later Biblical and mythological scenes, allegories and portraits. The paintings and prints in the exhibition show classical elements with a moralistic message, literary themes from antiquity or the classical ideal of the human anatomy. Maarten van Heemskerck’s prints made an important contribution to spreading the Italian renaissance in the northern Netherlands.