Joannes Hermans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joannes Hermans, called Monsú Aurora,[1] (Antwerp, c. 1630 – c. 1677) was a Flemish painter of animals and still lifes of game, fruit and flowers who worked in Italy and Antwerp where he contributed to the development of the Baroque still life genre.[2]
Details about the life of Joannes Hermans are scarce. He is believed that he was born in Antwerp. Here is registered as a pupil of the obscure painter Adriaen Willenhoudt from 1644. He is assumed to have worked in the Antwerp workshop of the prominent still life and animal painter Jan Fijt as Hermans' hand has been identified in a collaborative painting of Fijt.[3]
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He travelled to Italy where he was recorded in Rome in the period from 1657 to 1665 and was known as 'Monsú Aurora'. He enjoyed high-level patronage in Rome as is demonstrated by the commission to decorate the Roman palace of the nobleman Camillo Pamphili in 1656.[4] Camillo Pamphili was an avid hunter and lover of hunting-themed artworks. For the commission, Hermans painted a large canvas and 38 smaller compositions depicting both dead and living animals, some set in marshy landscapes.[5] These formed part of a set of about 50 paintings with this theme, that Pamphili had commissioned, for educational as well as decorative purposes.[4] Hermans received 26 weekly payments for executing the commission.[6]
Hermans also enjoyed the patronage of the Corsini, Colonna and Imperiali families as is shown by the presence of his works in contemporary Roman inventories. His compositions were also admired by the Flemish animalier David de Coninck and the Italian still life painter Pietro Navarra, both of whom worked in Rome during the second half of the 17th century.[5]
He returned to Antwerp in 1665 and became a master of the local Guild of Saint Luke. It is not clear when or where he died but it was likely in or after 1665 and before 1687.[2]
