Hendrik Mommers Biography
Hendrick Mommers (Haarlem, 2 January 1620 – Amsterdam, 21 December 1693) was a Dutch painter. Mommers was baptized on January 2, 1620, in the Old Church of Amsterdam. He was born in Haarlem, probably between 31 December 1619 and 1 January 1620. He lived in Haarlem, in a house on the banks of the river Spaarne, and on 22 January 1651 he had the banns posted for his marriage to Maria van Kolpert, born in Amsterdam. Hendrik Mommers was a pupil of Nicolaes Berchem, a painter specializing in pastoral scenes, who accompanied him on a trip to Rome, where the two Dutch artists stopped between 1644 and 1646, attracted by the grandiose beauty of the landscapes of the Roman countryside. Known in particular for pastoral scenes with sheep or cattle, or for market scenes with bunches of vegetables, against the backdrop of Lazio landscapes or in the presence of ancient Roman ruins, Hendrik Mommers characterized his characters' clothes with strong red and blue hues. He also painted Dutch landscapes, with figures of shepherds and grazing cattle, under backdrops of immense skies crossed by clouds, using a palette of warm, blonde hues reminiscent of the landscapes, with genre scenes, painted by Aelbert Jacobsz Cuyp. In 1647 he became a member of the Guild of St. Luke of Harlem.
