Maarten van Heemskerck: Humanism and Painting in Northern Europe

The brilliant young artist Maarten van Heemskerck, born in Holland in 1498, learned to imitate the Italianate manner while still at home - his early St Luke Painting the Virgin is almost a parody of the Italian style. But in 1532 he became one of the first artists to travel to Rome and immerse himself in the humanist art made famous by Michelangelo and his contemporaries. Here we trace the development of Heemskerck's work, and also study some of the drawings he made in Rome. From his sketchbooks we have valuable evidence of the monuments of antiquity as they existed in the sixteenth century, and of the building of the new St Peter's.

© 1998-2001 The Roland Collection & Pira Intl.