VERSTAPPEN, Martin

(b. 1773 Antwerpen, d. 1853 Roma)

Belgian painter and lithographer. He was a landscape painter, active in Rome from 1805.

He trained at the Antwerp Academy and in the studios of Petrus Johannes van Regemorter (1755-1830), Hendrik Aarnout Myin (1760-1826) and Balthazar Paul Ommeganck. He then travelled to Germany to fine-tune his skills; there, he discovered and studied the works of Claude Lorrain and Jacob van Ruisdael, both of which had a long-term influence on the way he painted.

Verstappen settled in Rome in 1805, where he remained until the end of his life. He exhibited two paintings at the Salon of 1810, and won a gold medal. He was admitted to the Academy of Saint Luke in 1813 as an academician of merit. In 1819, he married Maria Angela Pacetti, daughter of the artist Vincenzo Pacetti. Verstappen had a studio in the house of the Pacetti in Rome.

Respected by his contemporaries, he counted members of the Italian aristocracy among his clients, as well as the King of Naples, Ludwig of Bavaria, and Joséphine de Beauharnais.

View of a Monastery in the Roman Countryside

Verstappen worked on plein-air studies, and his picturesque views aim to capture the beauty of the Roman countryside. The present painting relies on the principles of a balanced composition: after a shady foreground comes a middle ground bathed in soft Italian light. The effect of depth is accentuated by the use of an aerial perspective in the background, as well as the objects found on the sides: the tree, struck by lightning, on the right, and a rocky cliff on the left, serve to frame the composition and guide the spectator’s eye towards the centre of the painting, occupied by a classic monastery. The end of the religious service is the opportunity to capture several groups of people in traditional dress, who help animate the landscape and add to the general harmony of the piece.

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View of the Waterfalls at Terni

The painting shows a view of the waterfalls at Terni with figures in the foreground.

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