
Jan Sanders van Hemessen (c. 1500 – c. 1566) was a leading
Flemish Renaissance painter, belonging to the group of Italianizing Flemish painters called the
Romanists, who were influenced by
Italian Renaissance painting
Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political stat ...
. Van Hemessen had visited Italy during the 1520s, and also
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...
near Paris in the mid 1530s, where he was able to view the work of the colony of Italian artists known as the First
School of Fontainebleau
The School of Fontainbleau () () refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late French Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau that were crucial in forming Northern Mannerism, and represent the first majo ...
, who were working on the decorations for the
Palace of Fontainebleau
Palace of Fontainebleau ( , ; ), located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. It served as a hunting lodge and summer residence for many of the List of French monarchs ...
.
[Burr Wallen. "Hemessen." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 20 December 2016] Van Hemessen's works show his ability to interpret the Italian models into a new Flemish visual vocabulary.
[Jan Sanders van Hemessen, ''Christ as Triumphant Redeemer'']
at Sotheby's

Hemessen played an important role in the development of
genre painting
Genre painting (or petit genre) is the painting of genre art, which depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity ca ...
, through his large scenes with religious or worldly subjects, set in towns with contemporary dress and architecture. These works depict human failings such as greed and vanity, and some show an interest in subjects with a financial angle. His genre scenes develop the "
Mannerist inversion" later taken further by
Pieter Aertsen
Pieter Aertsen (1508, Amsterdam – 2 June 1575, Amsterdam), called ''Lange Piet'' ("Tall Pete") because of his height, was a Dutch painter in the style of Northern Mannerism. He is credited with the invention of the monumental genre scene, whi ...
, where a small religious scene in the background reveals the true meaning of the painting, which is dominated by a large foreground scene seemingly devoted to a secular genre subject. One of his
best known works, the ''
Parable of the Prodigal Son
The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father; ) is one of the parables of Jesus in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. In Luke 15, Jesus tells this sto ...
'', expresses a religious theme through a pure genre painting set in a tavern and can be regarded as an important early statement of the
merry company tradition. He also painted a small number of portraits, some of exceptional quality, influenced by
Bronzino
Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italians, Italian Mannerism, Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or r ...
.
[ Van Hemessen was also known for his large nude figures, a subject matter that he had familiarised himself with in Italy.][
He was based in ]Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
between 1519 and 1550, joining the artist's Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was iden ...
there in 1524. After 1550 he may have moved to Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...
. He painted several religious subjects, and many others may have been destroyed in the Beeldenstorm that swept through Antwerp in the year of his death.
Life
Jan Sanders van Hemessen was born in Hemiksem, then called ''Hemessen'' or ''Heymissen''. He was an apprentice of Hendrick van Cleve I in Antwerp.[Jan van Hemessen]
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...
He traveled to Italy early in his career, around 1520. Here he studied both models from classical antiquity, such as the Laocoön
Laocoön (; , , gen.: ) is a figure in Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology and the Epic Cycle.
Laocoön is a Troy, Trojan priest. He and his two young sons are attacked by giant serpents sent by the gods when Laocoön argued against bri ...
as well as the contemporary works of Michelangelo and Raphael.[Jan Sanders van Hemessen]
at Sotheby's He returned to Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
where he entered the local Guild of Saint Luke
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was iden ...
as a master in 1524.
Van Hemessen is believed to have worked early in his career at the royal court in Mechelen
Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...
. Here he may have first encountered Jan Gossaert, a court painter, as well as the Master of the Legend of the Magdalen.[ Although the early biographer wrote that van Hemessen spent time in Haarlem, there is no evidence for this statement.
Van Hemessen was married to Barbara de Fevre with whom he had two daughters. After his wife's death, he had an illegitimate son called Peeter with his maid Betteken. After the death of Jan Sanders van Hemessen and Betteken, Peeter was legitimised in 1579, at the age of 24. Jan Sanders van Hemessen trained his daughter Catharina van Hemessen who became a successful portrait painter. It is not known where van Hemessen died.][
]
Work
General
Van Hemessen painted a very wide range of subjects, including religious, mythological and allegorical scenes, nudes, portraits and genre scenes.
Van Hemessen was one of the earliest Netherlandish artists to exploit the genre character of biblical subjects often for a moralizing purpose.[Workshop of Jan Sanders van Hemessen, ''The Calling of Matthew'']
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Van Hemessen specialized in scenes of human character flaws such as vanity and greed. His pictures often have a religious subject. His style helped found the Flemish traditions of genre painting.[Kemperdick, 98]
Van Hemessen was also a portrait painter. His Mannerist
Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
style is characterised by muscular and palpably three-dimensional figures, a densely packed foreground of abruptly cropped forms, and vigorous, even flamboyant gestures.[ Hemessen counterbalanced the influence of Classical and Renaissance models with the realism he must have learned from northern artists such as Quentin Matsys, ]Joos van Cleve
Joos van Cleve (; also Joos van der Beke; c. 1485–1490 – 1540/1541) was a leading painter active in Antwerp from his arrival there around 1511 until his death in 1540 or 1541. Within Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he combines the tr ...
, Marinus van Reymerswaele and possibly even Lucas van Leyden and Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; ; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...
.
Merry companies
Jan Sanders van Hemessen is associated with the development of the merry company theme in Flemish genre painting. He commenced his compositions on this theme with a 1536 painting on a religious subject, i.e. the ''Parable of the Prodigal Son
The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father; ) is one of the parables of Jesus in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. In Luke 15, Jesus tells this sto ...
'' ( Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium). The foreground of the composition shows the prodigal son during his days of high living in the company of prostitutes, music, wine and gambling. In the background through the open window one can discern a scene of the prodigal son living among the swine after he has fallen on hard times and the scene of his reunion with his father who forgives him. The composition clearly carries the moral lesson that one needs to see beyond the earthly pleasures depicted in the foreground to find the path of redemption, which is shown in the background.
Van Hemessen produced tavern and brothel scenes that address the theme of unbridled living where drinking causes more sinfulness. The depiction of his tavern and brothel scenes may have been intended more to please the viewer by a display of the artist's skill and the humor of the subject matter than a high moral judgment. This is shown in the '' Loose Company'' (c. 1540, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
The Staatliche Kunsthalle (State Art Gallery) is an fine art museum in Karlsruhe, Germany. Its collection consists of works by mainly German, French, Flemish and Dutch masters from the past eight centuries. The museum was conceived in the early ...
) in which van Hemessen depicts a brothel scene. In the foreground is shown an elderly man who is being caressed by an attractive young woman. The man seems to have second thoughts as he raises his hand in protestation. The procuress in the picture is laughing as she has already put his money in her pewter. The scene is painted with convincing realism and illusionism.
The Calling of St. Matthew
Jan Sanders van Hemessen painted several compositions on the subject of the '' Calling of St. Matthew'': one version in the Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pin ...
, two in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...
and a workshop version in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
. The subject matter provided van Hemessen with another occasion to use a religious subject to convey a moral message. The biblical story goes that St Matthew started out his life as a publican until he was called upon by Jesus and immediately followed him. The story provided van Hemessen with an excuse to paint a scene contrasting people busily engaged in commercial activities, in particular money changing or counting, and the serene Jesus.
The workshop version in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a close copy of the 1548 version in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, only the background is different. In both version Jesus is shown beckoning to Matthew using a gesture reminiscent of Italian art. In the immediate foreground is Matthew, whose arms and head are depicted in dramatic foreshortening while he turns toward Jesus in response to his call. Two of Matthew's colleagues are not aware of the momentous event taking place and they continue with their work of counting money and recording payments. The figure of Matthew is a concealed portrait of Emperor Charles V
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...
, the then ruler of Flanders.[
]
The Surgeon
Another representative work of Jan Sanders van Hemessen with a moral message is ''The Surgeon'' of 1555 (Museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...
, Madrid). The composition represents a scene commonly found in Flemish genre painting. The scene is an urban setting, likely a market. A surgeon is in the process of removing with a knife a stone (believed to be the stone of madness), which is visible inside an incision in the patient's open skull. The madness of the patient was believed to disappear with the removal of the stone. It is implied that the surgeon is actually a quack who has himself placed the stone in the incision by a sleight of hand before pretending to remove it.
As an advertisement for his skills there is behind him a line on which hang stones, which he has supposedly removed from earlier patients. Next to the surgeon stands a man who is gesturing in desperation, as he is clearly the next patient to go under the scalpel. On the left a female assistant is preparing ointment in a bowl. The composition is a denunciation of the greed of the surgeon who abuses his patients' gullibility.['The Surgeon'']
at the Prado Museum
Portraits
His style of portrait painting played an important role in the popularity of portraiture in northern Europe from circa 1540 onwards. While Michelangelo and Raphael were the principal influences on his religious compositions, his later portraiture owed more to Agnolo Bronzino
Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italians, Italian Mannerism, Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or r ...
. At the same time, his portraits include elements from Flemish painting of his time.
An example of his portraits is the '' Portrait of a Gentleman, Aged 34, before an Extensive Landscape'' dated between 1530 and the early 1540s (sold at Sotheby's on 9 July 2014 in London, lot 41, fetching £1,762,500). It is clearly inspired by Bronzino's portraits from the 1530s, which van Hemessen must have known through prints. The ''Portrait of a Gentleman'' shows an arrangement of the hands typical for Bronzino but started by Titian
Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno.
Ti ...
: the right hand is grasping an item representative of the sitter’s interests or identity, while the other hand rests lower down the plane. This arrangement would become standard practice in High Renaissance and Mannerist portraiture. An important element in van Hemessen’s work differs from his Itialian model: the landscape. Beyond the sitter is visible a ‘ world landscape’ in the more developed form as it was practised in the Low Countries in the 1530s and reminiscent of the landscapes of Matthys Cock.[
]
Selected works
*''St. Jerome'' (1548)
*''The Surgeon'' (1555), Museo del Prado, Madrid
*''The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant'' (c. 1556), University of Michigan Museum of Art
The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with . Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alu ...
, Ann Arbor, Michigan
*''Woman Weighing Gold''
*''Vanitas
''Vanitas'' is a genre of symbolizing the temporality, transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, and thus the vanity of ambition and all worldly desires. The paintings involved still life imagery of transitory i ...
''
*''Judith and Holofernes'', Chicago Museum of Art. A slightly darker copy of the same picture is in the Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany. The website of the museum ascribes this picture to 'Workshop Jan Sanders van Hemessen'Online catalogue of Kunsthalle Bremen
/ref>
*''Allegorical Scene''
*''The Holy Family''
*''Isaac Blessing Jacob''
*''Virgin and Child'',
*''Tarquin and Lucretia''
*''Merry Company''
*''Tobias Restores His Father's Sight''
*''The Calling of Saint Matthew''
Notes
Sources
* Kemperdick, Stephan. ''The Early Portrait, from the Collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein and the Kunstmuseum Basel''. Munich: Prestel, 2006.
* Silver, Larry. ''Peasant Scenes and Landscapes: The Rise of Pictorial Genres in the Antwerp Art Market'', Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006
* Snyder, James. ''Northern Renaissance Art'', 1985, Harry N. Abrams,
Further reading
*Burr Wallen, ''Jan van Hemessen; An Antwerp Painter between Reform and Counter-Reform'', Michigan 1983
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemessen, Jan Sanders van
1500s births
1560s deaths
Flemish Mannerist painters
Flemish portrait painters
Flemish genre painters
Flemish history painters
People from Hemiksem