Maarten van Heemskerck learnt a lot from Jan van Scorel
Maarten van Heemskerck was born Maerten Jacobszoon on 1st June 1498 in Heemskerk in the Dutch province of North Holland. He was interested in the fine arts from a young age and decided to train as a painter against the declared wishes of his father, the landowner Jacob Willemszoon van Veen. He received his first tuition from Cornelis Willemszoon in Haarlem, but had to abandon this at his father's behest in order to help on the farm at home - at least according to Karel van Mander (1548-1606) in his Schilder-Boeck. After a dispute with his father, Maarten van Heemskerck was apprenticed to Jan Lucaszoon in Delft, and then in around 1527 returned to Haarlem, where he worked in the workshop of Jan van Scorel (1495-1562). This period had such a decisive influence on Maarten van Heemskerck's painting style that some of his works were later falsely attributed to his teacher. For a time, Maarten van Heemskerck lived in the house of the wealthy priest Pieter Janszoon Foppeszoon, whom he immortalised with his family in a portrait that became famous, and also painted a picture of Adam and Eve for his host. He showed St Luke, the patron saint of the painters' guild, in a painting of the Virgin Mary.
Fruitful years and prestigious projects in Italy
Maarten van Heemskerck travelled to Italy in 1532, where a letter of recommendation from his friend and teacher Jan van Scorel to the Dutch Cardinal William III of Enckenvoirt, who had been a confidant of the recently deceased Pope Hadrian VI, opened a number of doors for him. He soon gained an excellent reputation in Rome thanks to his quick working methods and great skill and received commissions from the city's leading artists' studios. Among others, he worked together with Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1484-1546) and Francesco Salviati (1510-1563) on the Porta San Sebastiano in Rome. During his stay in Italy, Maarten van Heemskerck produced a whole series of extremely meticulous drawings, which, collected as Roman sketchbooks, represent an important source for art history, even if their authorship is disputed in more recent research. He was also the first artist to draw a sketch of the Capitoline bust of Brutus. His sketches from Italy served him throughout his life as models for further paintings.
A respected artist personality in Haarlem
Maarten van Heemskerck returned to Haarlem in 1536/37 and received commissions from the church for altarpieces, tapestries and stained-glass windows. In 1540, he became president of the Guild of St Luke in Haarlem, although his painting style, which had changed as a result of his experiences travelling in Italy, did not meet with unanimous approval. Nevertheless, Maarten van Heemskerck became a wealthy and respected artist. He formed a friendship with the Roman Catholic priest and later martyr Cornelis Musius, for whom he created large-format altarpieces, and from 1553, he served as church master of St Bavo's Church in Haarlem. His most important series of paintings, Octo mundi miracula, depicting the ancient wonders of the world, was published by Philipp Galle (1537-1612) and characterised the pictorial tradition for a long time until it was replaced by the series by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656-1723).
Maarten van Heemskerck died in Haarlem on 1st October 1574.
Maarten van Heemskerck - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz: