Jan de Momper, also known as Giovanni de Momper (16 August 1614 or 1617 - 1684/1704) was a Flemish landscape painter who, after training in Antwerp, had a successful career in Rome where he worked for an elite clientele. The artist was forgotten until his rediscovery in 1959. [1] With his highly expressionist landscapes executed with a very free brush the artist occupies a unique position in the artistic panorama of Baroque Rome. [2]
Few details about the life of Jan de Momper are known with certainty. According to Italian sources he was born in Antwerp. This would indicate that he may have been a member of the extensive family de Momper, which specialised in landscape painting. The de Momper family was a prominent family of landscape painters and printmakers, originally from Bruges, which had settled in Antwerp in the 16th century. [3] Some art historian have suggested that he was the Joannes de Momper who was born on 16 August 1614 as the son of the painter Jan de Momper (II) and Elizabeth van Hoeswinckel. Jan de Momper (II) was a brother of the prominent landscape painter Joos de Momper. He is identified by some art historians with the Joannes de Momper who was registered as an embroiderer in 1635 at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as a 'wijnmeester', i.e. the son of a member. [4] Jan likely left Antwerp in the late 1630s when the family de Momper's large studio collapsed after the death of Joos de Momper, the leading artist in the family. [1]
In the year 1657 the artist was recorded in Rome in connection with a commission to produce 9 landscapes for the prominent Roman Doria Pamphilj family. Some of his works are still present in the Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome where the family's large art collection is currently housed. [5] In 1661 he was a well-established painter in Rome, as evidenced by a very important order from another distinguished art loving family in Rome, the Chigi family. [1] He had very likely already been working in Rome well before the first records of his presence in the city.
Jan de Momper is believed to have joined the Bentvueghels, an organization of mainly Flemish and Dutch painters active in Rome. It was the custom of the Bentvueghels to adopt a nickname, the so-called bent name, at the time a member was admitted. The bent name of Jan de Momper was 'Eervrucht' ('Fruit of Honour'). [6]
Jan de Momper was linked with the prominent Flemish battle painter Vincent Adriaenssen who was active in Rome. Jan's wife Agnes Vincentii, who died in Rome on 19 April 1684, was Adriaenssen's daughter. Adriaenssen was also his early mentor in Rome.
In 1684 Jan de Momper was recorded as working on the palace of the Chigi family in Ariccia. [1] There is no further sign of life of Jan de Momper after the report on the death of his wife in 1684. [1]
Jan de Momper's name as a painter was virtually lost until the art historian Roberto Longhi brought together a series of landscapes characterized by a strong personality and a remarkable freedom of brush under the notname "Monsù X". From an inscription on the back of one of those canvases, owned by the Chigi family, Longhi was able to identify the anonymous master as Jan de Momper. [1]
Jan de Momper is known for his landscapes depicting coastal and river landscapes populated with contemporary figures and hunting scenes. The landscapes of Jan de Momper are characterized by their singular extravagance. The works are very personal and executed with a great freedom of the brush and with strong contrasts. [5] His compositions reveal a preference for the unfinished. [2] His style demonstrates he was familiar with the landscapes of Rembrandt as will as the late works of Salvator Rosa. [5] The freedom of his brushwork explains why some of his works have in the past been attributed to Goya or a follower of Goya and Alessandro Magnasco. Some of his views also call to mind Claude Lorrain's landscapes. The expressionistic talent of Jan de Momper made him a unique case in the artistic panorama of Baroque Rome. [2]
Three of his landscapes are preserved in the Prado, to which they were transferred from the royal collection. The works were inventoried as de Momper but without indicating his first name, which had led to an attribution of the works to the more famous Joos de Momper. [7] Another landscape attributed to the artist is the Grape Harvest in the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. This work was originally attributed to an anonymous follower of Goya before it was reattributed to Jan de Momper. [2]
Jan Brueghelthe Elder was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collaborator with Peter Paul Rubens, the two artists were the leading Flemish painters in the first three decades of the 17th century.
Louis de Caullery, Caulery or Coulery (ca.1580–1621) was a Flemish painter who is known for his architectural scenes, city views, genre scenes, allegorical compositions and history paintings. He was one of the pioneers of the art genre of courtly gatherings and the garden parties in Flemish painting.
Joos de Momper the Younger or Joost de Momper the Younger was a Flemish landscape painter active in Antwerp between the late 16th century and the early 17th century. Brueghel's influence is clearly evident in many of de Momper's paintings. His work is situated at the transition from late 16th-century Mannerism to the greater realism in landscape painting that developed in the early 17th century. He achieved considerable success during his lifetime.
Pieter van Bloemen, also known as Standaart, first name also spelled Peter or Peeter, was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and printmaker. He was a gifted landscape and animal artist and was very successful with his compositions depicting Italian landscapes with figures, equestrian battles, animals and genre and market scenes.
Peter Snayers or Pieter Snayers (1592–1667) was a Flemish painter known for his panoramic battle scenes, depictions of cavalry skirmishes, attacks on villages, coaches and convoys and hunting scenes. He established his reputation mainly through his topographic battle scenes providing a bird's eye view over the battlefield. He further painted large landscapes and portraits of the aristocracy. He was a regular collaborator of local landscape painters and also Rubens.
Marten Ryckaert or Maerten Ryckaert, was a Flemish landscape painter. He was known for his small, usually imaginary landscapes in an Italianate style.
Flemish Baroque painting was a style of painting in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries. The period roughly begins when the Dutch Republic was split from the Habsburg Spain regions to the south with the Spanish recapturing of Antwerp in 1585 and goes until about 1700, when Spanish Habsburg authority ended with the death of King Charles II. Antwerp, home to the prominent artists Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens, was the artistic nexus, while other notable cities include Brussels and Ghent.
Abraham Govaerts was a Flemish painter who specialized in small cabinet-sized forest landscapes in the manner of Jan Brueghel the Elder and Gillis van Coninxloo. He was a regular collaborator with other artists who were specialists in specific genres. Govaerts would paint the landscape while these specialists painted the figures, animals or still life elements.
David de Coninck or David de Koninck, also known as Rammelaer was a Flemish painter who specialised in still lifes and landscapes with animals and hunting scenes. Recognised as a leading animal painter, de Coninck was able to develop an international career which caused him to work for extended periods in Paris, Rome and Vienna.
Jacques Fouquier, Jacques Fouquières or Jacob Focquier was a Flemish landscape painter. After training in Antwerp he worked in various places where he often obtained appointments as a painter to the court including that of the French kings. He earned great success and a very high reputation during his lifetime and was even referred to as the 'Flemish Titian'. Very few of his paintings have been preserved. His work was influential in his time and was widely circulated thanks to reproductions by various contemporary engravers.
Anton Goubau or Anton Goebouw was a Flemish Baroque painter. He spent time in Rome where he moved in the circle of the Bamboccianti, Dutch and Flemish genre painters who created small cabinet paintings of the everyday life of the lower classes in Rome and its countryside. He is known for his Italianate landscapes and genre paintings in the style of the Bamboccianti and his history paintings with mythological and religious themes.
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Frans de Momper was a Flemish landscape painter who, after training in Antwerp, worked for a while in the Dutch Republic. Here he was exposed to the work of Dutch landscape painters such as Jan van Goyen. His later paintings prefigure the imaginative landscapes of Hercules Segers.
Philips de Momper the Elder, Philips de Momper (I) or Philippe de Momper (I) (1598–1634) was a Flemish landscape painter and son of the prominent landscape painter Joos de Momper. His work was virtually unknown until a group of paintings, mainly depicting Treviso and Rome, which had formerly been attributed to his father were re-assigned to him. The artist is often confused with his cousin Philips de Momper the Younger (or Philips de Momper (II)) (c. 1610-1675).
Hendrik Frans van Lint was a Flemish landscape and vedute painter who was part of the group of Flemish and Dutch painters active in Rome. He was one of the leading landscape painters in Rome in the first half of the 18th century and his patrons included Rome's old aristocratic families as well as European travellers on their Grand Tour.
Jan van Essen, was a Flemish painter known for his seascapes. After training in Antwerp, he worked in Italy, particularly in Rome and Naples.
Vincent Adriaenssen (1595–1675) was a Flemish Baroque painter who spent an important part of his career in Paris and Rome where he was especially renowned for his landscapes with battles and hunting scenes.
The family de Momper was a Flemish family of painters and printmakers active in the 16th and 17th century. The family originated in Bruges but had settled in Antwerp by the 1550s. Members of the family include:
Bartholomeus de Momper (I) or Bartholomeus de Momper the Elder (Antwerp, 1535 – Antwerp, between 1595-1597) was a Flemish publisher, printer, draughtsman and art dealer. He was a member of de Momper family, a prominent family of landscape painters and printmakers, originally from Bruges, which had settled in Antwerp in the 16th century.
Grotto Landscape with a Hermitage, also called The Reading Hermit, is an oil on canvas painting by Flemish painters Jan Brueghel the Younger and Joos de Momper. It was painted around 1625, and is currently in private collection. It depicts a reading hermit in a monumental grotto, several pilgrims and various animals. It was painted in Antwerp.
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