Marten Jacobszoon Heemskerk van Veen

Marten Jacobsz Heemskerk van Veen or Maarten van Heemskerck (1498, Heemskerk – October 1, 1574, Haarlem), was one of the leading Dutch portrait and religious painters of the sixteenth century, famous for his depictions of the Seven Wonders of the World. His father was a small farmer, Jacob Willemsz van Veen (whose portrait he painted). According to his biography, written by Karel van Mander, he was apprenticed to Cornelis Willemsz in Haarlem. Rec... more

Marten Jacobsz Heemskerk van Veen or Maarten van Heemskerck (1498, Heemskerk – October 1, 1574, Haarlem), was one of the leading Dutch portrait and religious painters of the sixteenth century, famous for his depictions of the Seven Wonders of the World. His father was a small farmer, Jacob Willemsz van Veen (whose portrait he painted). According to his biography, written by Karel van Mander, he was apprenticed to Cornelis Willemsz in Haarlem. Recalled after a time to the paternal homestead and put to the plough or the milking of cows, young Heemskerk took the first opportunity that offered to run away, and demonstrated his wish to leave home for ever by walking in a single day the 50 miles which separate his native hamlet from the town of Delft. There he studied under Jan Lucasz whom he soon deserted for Jan van Scorel of Haarlem. Even today, many of Heemskerck's paintings are mistaken for work by van Scorel. He boarded at the home of the wealthy Pieter Jan Foppesz (the van Mander... less