Elsheimer, Adam

Elsheimer, Adam

Elsheimer,
Adam (1578-1610). German painter, etcher, and draughtsman, active mainly in
Italy. Although he died young and his output was small he played a key role in
the development of 17th-century landscape painting.

He
was born in Frankfurt, where he absorbed the Coninxloo tradition, and moved to
Italy in 1598. In Venice he worked with his countryman Rottenhammer, then
settled in Rome in 1600. His early Mannerist style gave way to a more direct
manner in which he showed great sensitivity to effects of light; his nocturnal
scenes are particularly original, bringing out the best in his lyrical
temperament, and he is credited with being the first artist to represent the
constellations of the night sky accurately (The Flight into Egypt, Alte
Pinakothek, Munich, 1609). He painted a few pictures in which figures
predominate, but generally they are fused into a harmonious unity with their
landscape settings. They are invariably on a small scale and on copper (the
only exception is a self-portrait in the Uffizi, Florence, of doubtful
attribution), but although exquisitely executed they have a grandeur out of all
proportion to their size.

Elsheimer
achieved fame during his lifetime and there are numerous contemporary copies of
his works. His paintings were engraved by his pupil and patron, the Dutch
amateur artist Count Hendrick Goudt (1573-1648), and Elsheimer himself made a
number of etchings. In spite of his popularity he was personally unsuccessful
and died in poverty. Sandrart says he suffered from melancholia and was often unable
to work; apparently he was imprisoned for debt. Rubens was a friend of
Elsheimer and after his death lamented his `sin of sloth, by which he has
deprived the world of the most beautiful things'; he also wrote `I have never
seen his equal in the realm of small figures, of landscapes, and of so many
other subjects.'

Both
Rubens (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kassel) and Rembrandt (National Gallery,
Dublin) made paintings of The Flight into Egypt inspired by Elsheimer's
masterpiece, and his influence is apparent in the work of many other
17th-century artists.
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