Maarten van Heemskerck in two cities and three museums

Who doesn't know the Maarten van Heemskerckstraat in Heemskerk or in Haarlem? In Haarlem, it used to be St. John the Baptist Hospital is located. The old hospital has since been demolished. But who knows the artworks of Maarten van Heemskerck? A great last chance to see his works in 3 museums in 2 cities (Haarlem and Alkmaar) until January 19, 2025.

Maarten van Heemskerck

Maarten van Heemskerck, born Maerten van Veen (Heemskerk, 1498 – Haarlem, October 1, 1574), was a Dutch painter who painted in the Renaissance style. He changed his name because he wanted his birthplace (then about 600 inhabitants, now 39.000) to be put on the map. Around 1540, Van Heemskerck married Marie Jacobs Coningsdochter from Haarlem, but she died in childbirth a year and a half later. The child also did not survive the birth, and Van Heemskerck remained childless. However, shortly thereafter, he married the wealthy Martytgen Gerritsdochter. At the time, they lived in a large house on the Donkere Spaarne. Van Heemskerck was born into a farming family. He had two sisters and a brother and was destined to take over his father's farm later, but he did not want to. Van Heemskerck had a great talent for drawing and discovered that he could also paint. In 1510, he apprenticed with the Haarlem painter Cornelis Willemsz., but his father called him back. With great reluctance, Van Heemskerck had to earn a living at home again. Eventually, he went to Delft where he apprenticed with Jan Lucasz. He probably left there around 1527 and apprenticed with Jan van Scorel in Haarlem. He was one of the most important masters at the time because he had mastered a unique, new way of painting in Italy: the Renaissance had made its entrance into the Netherlands.

That Van Heemskerck learned a great deal from Scorel can be deduced from the fact that experts are sometimes unable to determine whether a work is by Van Scorel or Van Heemskerck, as was the case with the paintings *Maria Magdalena* and *The Rest During the Flight into Egypt*. It was only in the 1970s that it became clear that the former work is by Van Scorel and the latter by Van Heemskerck. (Alternative design for the Dutch Children's Stamps 1941, after the painting 'Portrait of a Young Pupil' by Jan van Scorel. Source: geheugen.Delpher.nl) At well over thirty years of age, Van Heemskerck established himself as an independent master. Due to his humble origins, he had not previously possessed the means and prestige to start his own business. He did, however, gain that prestige from his teachers. He went to live with Pieter Jan Foppesz., a wealthy Haarlem resident who was churchwarden of the Saint Bavo was. He knew him because Foppesz. was a large landowner in Heemskerk.

On May 23, 1532, he departed for Rome to study classical art and the work of contemporary masters. He went to live with the Dutch Cardinal Willem van Enckenvoirt, where he ended up through Jan van Scorel, who had previously been to Italy. Van Enckenvoirt was a great art lover and had good contacts with both Italian and Dutch artists residing in Rome. This is how Van Heemskerck obtained his commissions. He was soon successful and was by the painter Giorgio Vasari mentioned in his painters' book as a skilled painter of figures and landscapes. It seems that he earned quite a bit in Rome and that an Italian acquaintance even stole works from him because they were very popular.

In 1536, Van Heemskerck returned to the Netherlands. In 1537, he signed a contract to paint the side panels for an altarpiece, *The Calvary*, for the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. In the following years, Van Heemskerck was a highly sought-after artist. He did not limit himself to painting and drawing alone; he also created tapestry designs and designed stained-glass windows for the Carmelite Church in Haarlem. From 1540 to 1543 he worked on the altarpiece for the Great or St. Lawrence Church in Alkmaar. When unfolded, it measures six by eight meters, making it the largest ever created in the Netherlands. Details of the Passion are depicted on the altarpiece, such as the placing of a crown of thorns on Christ's head, Pontius Pilate showing Christ to the crowd, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. The outside of the side panels features elements of the life of the church's patron saint, Saint Lawrence, who is roasted over a fire and distributes the church treasures that the emperor had claimed for himself to the poor. After the Reformation, the Lawrence altarpiece was sold and, via the Swedish king, eventually ended up in the Lutheran cathedral of Linköping, where it still hangs today. In April 2018, the side panels of the altarpiece returned to St. Lawrence's Church for six months during a jubilee exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of the church building. Maarten van Heemskerck was a member of a rhetoric society, which means that he eventually belonged to the wealthy citizens. In 1530, he became a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. He held high positions there; for instance, he was an inspector from 1550 to 1552, and for the following two years, he headed the guild. Finally, in 1553, he became churchwarden of St. Bavo, a position he held until his death 21 years later. In 1570, he had the Heemskerk obelisk erected as a tomb monument for his father. All in all, it can be said that he was a particularly prominent painter and a rich and wealthy man. For instance, in 1573, he appears on a list of persons who lent money to the city of Haarlem to buy off the Spaniards. During his life, he had many good private contacts with prominent citizens, such as Jan van Zuren (lawyer and mayor of Haarlem), two of Van Zuren's brothers, one of whom married Van Heemskerck's wife after his death, the Van Beresteyns family, the humanist Dirck Volkertsz. Coornhert, Hadrianus Junius (city physician of Haarlem and rector of the Latin school), the famous Alkmaar physician Pieter van Foreest, and Cornelis Musius, poet and prior of the Agatha Monastery in Delft.

 

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Viewing tip: The 'highlights' are on display at the Frans Hals Museum and Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar. The etchings are on view at Teylers Museum. Discover Maarten van Heemskerck through January 19, 2025, in 3 museums in 2 cities: https://ontdekvanheemskerck.nl/