Maarten van Heemskerck 2024

Tatjana Bartsch

Maarten van Heemskerck, Various studies, pen and brown ink / red chalk, 136 × 210 mm. Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Inv. 79 D 2, fol. 50 r (Photo Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Dietmar Katz)

Maarten van Heemskerck, Various studies, pen and brown ink / red chalk, 136 × 210 mm. Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Inv. 79 D 2, fol. 50 r (Photo Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Dietmar Katz)

The Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, in collaboration with the Bibliotheca Hertziana, has organized a special exhibition to mark the 450th anniversary of the death of the Dutch painter Maarten van Heemskerck (“The Allure of Rome. Maarten van Heemskerck Draws the City”, April 26 – August 5, 2024, URL: https://www.smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/the-allure-of-rome). The focus was on the drawings and paintings created during his stay in Rome between 1532 and 1537. For the first time, the 66 sheets of his Roman sketchbook, which were removed from the so-called Heemskerck Album I (Inv. 79 D 2) for conservation reasons and scientifically examined, were presented to a wider public. Tatjana Bartsch was involved in the scientific conception and organization of the exhibition, the production of the catalog, and the accompanying international conference as a guest curator. The exhibition received broad attention from both the public and the audience of specialists and experts and was discussed very positively in the international daily press and in art history journals.