MURANT, Emanuel

(b. 1622 Amsterdam, d. ~1700 Leeuwarden)

Dutch painter. His parents were Esaias Davidsz Meurant (1588-1664), of Amsterdam, and Margaritha Meulemans (c. 1593-1665), of Antwerp. His father was a teacher in the Old Side Latin School in Amsterdam, and he was also the author of several poetry collections. Emanuel was the oldest of six children. He traveled in France and elsewhere between 1642 and 1648.

In 1654, he married Elisabeth Assuerus (c. 1623-before 1670), the couple had at least two children. He left Amsterdam by 1665 when he was living in Naarden, and from 1670 onward he lived in Leeuwarden. He married there Berberke Willems (b. 1629) in 1670. He is documented as in Leeuwarden between 1670 and 1680, and was still a resident there in 1696.

Murant’s early paintings of cottages and barns in rural landscapes are reminiscent of Philips Wouwerman, Paulus Potter, and the Haarlem artists Cornelis Decker and Roelof van Vries. Works of the 1650s already reveal detailed passages of brickwork, which anticipate the more minute descriptions found in later paintings.

Dilapidated Farm

In the centre of the painting is a building in a state of ruin, at the door which a man feeds chicken, while at the left a boy with pigs can be seen.

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Landscape with Bridge

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The Old Castle

The painting depicts part of a ruined Late Medieval castle of a type common in the Netherlands. There are no signs of recent habitation, many Dutch castles were ruined in the late sixteenth century during the war with Spain. Other Dutch artists also painted picturesque fragments of medieval architecture in country settings, for example, Jan van Goyen, Roelof van Vries, and Klaes Molenaer.

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