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| Maarten van Heemskerck Momus reproaches the works of the Gods 1561 oil on panel Gemäldegalerie, Berlin |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Momus reproaches the works of the Gods (detail) 1561 oil on panel Gemäldegalerie, Berlin |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Rest on the Flight into Egypt ca. 1530 oil on panel National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck St John the Evangelist with the Virgin and The Magdalen with a Donor ca. 1540 oil on panels (two shutters from triptych) National Gallery, London |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck St Luke painting the Virgin and Child (detail) 1532 oil on panel Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck St Luke painting the Virgin and Child (detail) 1532 oil on panel Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Ecce Homo (detail) 1559-60 oil on panel (central panel of triptych) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Massacre of the Innocents 1546 oil on panel (central panel of triptych) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Massacre of the Innocents (detail) 1546 oil on panel (central panel of triptych) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Massacre of the Innocents (detail) 1546 oil on panel (central panel of triptych) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Massacre of the Innocents (detail) 1546 oil on panel (central panel of triptych) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Massacre of the Innocents (detail) 1546 oil on panel (central panel of triptych) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Massacre of the Innocents (detail) 1546 oil on panel (central panel of triptych) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Bullfighting in the Colosseum Ruins 1552 oil on panel Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille |
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| Maarten van Heemskerck Bullfighting in the Colosseum Ruins (detail) 1552 oil on panel Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille |
"Maarten van Heemskerck was born in 1498, the son of Jacob Willemsz van Veen, a farmer. The artist is named after Heemskerk, the village of his birth, which lies a short distance to the north of Haarlem. According to Carel van Mander, whose Schilder-Boek of 1604 is an important source of information, Heemskerck first studied with Cornelis Willemsz in Haarlem and then with Jan Lucasz in Delft. The work of neither artist is known to us. Between 1527 and 1530 Heemskerck worked with Jan van Scorel, during the period that Scorel resided in Haarlem, and was ostensibly attracted by the new manner of painting that Scorel had brought back from Italy. Heemskerck himself remained in Haarlem until at least May of 1532, at which point he set off for Rome, arriving there by July 1532. While in Rome Maarten van Heemskerck made accurate, conscientious sketches of antique ruins and statues; he was influenced by Raphael and contemporary artists such as Michelangelo and Salviati. It is also likely that on his way home, in late 1536 or early 1537, Heemskerck stopped in Mantua and viewed the work of Giulio Romano. By 1537 Heemskerck was back in Haarlem, where he was to remain virtually the rest of his life."
– from the biography in the Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC