Adam Elsheimer

Elsheimer, Adam 

Born Mar. 18, 1578, in Frankfurt; died Dec. 11, 1610, in Rome. German painter.

Elsheimer studied under F. Uffenbach in Frankfurt. He worked in Venice from 1598 to 1600 and in Rome from 1600. Most of his paintings are small-scale works, mainly on copper, in a painstaking style reminiscent of the miniature. He produced religious and mythological scenes, usually in simple, domestic settings, such as Jupiter and Mercury in the Home of Philemon and Baucis (Dresden Picture Gallery). In his landscapes he combined his poetic and intimate perception of nature with precise three-dimensional composition, for example, Landscape With Round Temple (National Gallery, Prague). Especially characteristic of Elsheimer’s works were his night scenes, noted for their exceptional soft chiaroscuro transitions. They include Flight Into Egypt (1609, Old Pinakothek, Munich). Elsheimer had a significant influence on such masters as Claude Lorraine, Rembrandt, and Rubens.

REFERENCE

Weizsäcker, H. Adam Elsheimer, der Maler von Frankfurt, vols. 1 (books 1–2) and 2. Berlin, 1936–52.