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For the Delight of Friends, Citizens, and Strangers: Maarten van Heemskerck’s Drawings of Antiquities Collections in Rome

This article provides the first in-depth discussion of the relationship between the Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck and the antiquarian circles in Rome he frequented during his stay there in the 1530s. Dozens of detailed drawings survive from his trip; these now represent the most vivid visual record of Rome in this era. Scholars have previously considered these sketches outside of the context of Van Heemskerck's Roman circle, classifying them as personal works of art relevant to a Netherlandish context only. This consideration of Van Heemskerck as a Roman insider reshapes the current understanding of his famous drawings.

'For the Delight...' appears in the acts of an international conference held in the Berlin State Museums, where almost all of Van Heemskerck's Roman drawings are kept. The article is devoted to the question of how his drawings responded to the needs of Roman patrons, above all, the desire to advertise the success of Roman antiquarianism to outsiders. It identifies several sheets for the first time as models for prints meant to celebrate Roman collections on an international stage. It also weighs Van Heemskerck's possible objections towards Catholicism and the more controversial aspects of curial patronage.

Using detailed visual analysis the article disproves the notion that Van Heemskerck's drawings are accurate 'reflections' of the world he encountered in Renaissance Rome. It carefully investigates the artist's technique to differentiate, for example, which drawings could have been made in a studio and which en plein air, which were intended for personal study and which as models for prints. A wide range of historical sources are used to reconstruct Van Heemskerck's Roman network. The article also includes a historiographic discussion which considers how the current approach to his Roman sketchbooks was first shaped in the nineteenth century.