Thursday, March 22, 2018

Pieter Lastman (Teacher of Rembrandt)

Pieter Lastman
Ruins of the Forum of Nerva, Rome
1606
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

"July 11, 2012 – Acquisition – Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum – At the Christie's London auction of old master drawings in early July, the Rijksmuseum  purchased a landscape drawing by Pieter Lastman, Rembrandt's master, representing Nerva's forum seen from the temple of Minerva, dating from 1606 during his stay in Rome which took place between 1603 and 1607.  There is only one other view of Rome by the artist which is known today, the Palatine Hill [directly below], also dated 1606 and currently held in a private collection."

– from the defunct online journal, La Tribune de l'Art

Pieter Lastman
View of the Palatine Hill
1606
drawing
private collection (Cologne, Germany)

Pieter Lastman
Adoration of the Shepherds 
(after painting by Paolo Veronese copied in Venice)
ca. 1606
drawing
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

"The only other other surviving drawing by Lastman from his time in Italy is a copy after a painting by Paolo Veronese, The Adoration of the Shepherds.  The painting hung in the chapel of the Church of the Crociferi in Venice, but is now in San Giovanni e Paolo.  Like many artists, Lastman probably visited Venice on his way back north.  . . .   There are no paintings and only three known drawings by Lastman dating from the period before his visit to Italy: Hagar in the Wilderness of 1601 and two drawings [directly below] of a Standing Oriental figure in a landscape of 1603.  They reveal the Mannerist drawing style of his teacher Gerrit Pieteresz.  The drawings from Italy are quite different; the style is simpler and the swelling and tapering pen strokes have been replaced by a more regular pattern of fine lines, short strokes and small dots.  This style was influenced by other Dutch and Flemish artists working in Rome, of whom Paul Bril was the most prominent." 

– Peter Schatborn, from the catalogue of a 2001 exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, published in English as Drawn to Warmth: 17th-century Dutch artists in Italy, translated by Lynne Richards

Pieter Lastman
Standing Oriental figure in a landscape
1603
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Pieter Lastman
Standing Oriental figure in a landscape
1603
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Pieter Lastman
Study of a bearded and turbaned man carrying a chest
ca. 1625-30
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Pieter Lastman
Half-length study of nude model
before 1633
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Claes Jansz Visscher after Pieter Lastman
Dress of Venetian Ladies
(from series of Italian Costumes)

before 1633
etching
British Museum

Claes Jansz Visscher after Pieter Lastman
Dress of a noble couple of Florence
(from series of Italian Costumes)
before 1633
etching
British Museum

Pieter Lastman
Design for a Ewer
(Cupid on neck, Lobsters below,
with men and women bathing in the centre)

ca. 1610
etching
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

"The son of a goldsmith, Pieter Lastman became known as one of the most important artists of his day for his ability to paint small cabinet pictures.  At the age of nineteen, Lastman went to Italy, where he spent five years.  After he returned to his native Amsterdam, his painting style exhibited striking changes.  He began to use strong contrasts of light and shade that intensified the drama of the scene and to specialize in narrative subjects from the Bible, mythology, and Roman history.  His reform of history painting in Amsterdam in the 1600s – presenting well-characterized figures at the dramatic climax of a story – and his role as Rembrandt's teacher ensured his fame during his lifetime.  His paintings commanded high prices, and his name was mentioned as one of Amsterdam's most important painters in a 1618 hymn celebrating the arts of the city."

– curator's notes from the Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Pieter Lastman
Triumph of Sesostris
1631
oil on panel
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Pieter Lastman
Orestes and Pylades disputing at the altar
1614
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Pieter Lastman
Odysseus and Nausicaa
1619
oil on panel
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Pieter Lastman
Juno discovering Jupiter with Io
1618
oil on panel
National Gallery, London

Pieter Lastman
The Angel and Tobias with the Fish
ca. 1610-20
oil on panel
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Pieter Lastman
Wedding Night of Tobias and Sarah
1611
oil on panel
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

"The Book of Tobit, part of the Roman Catholic Bible, recounts the story of Tobias, whose guardian angel, Raphael, guides him through the trials of his life.  Following the angel's advice, Tobias burns the heart and liver of a giant fish in order to drive off a demon who threatens his life on his wedding night.  From the bed Sarah watches her husband with concern, as Raphael wrestles with the demon overhead.  The legend of Tobias would become a favorite subject of Lastman's most famous pupil, Rembrandt."

– curator's notes from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston