Joannes Hermans

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 still life genre.[2]

Life

Still life of game birds resting on a rock ledge

Joannes Hermans was in Antwerp a pupil of the obscure painter Adriaen Willenhoudt from 1644. 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 Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphili. He painted a large canvas and 38 smaller compositions depicting various birds. These formed part of a set of about 50 paintings with this theme, that Pamphili had commissioned, for educational as well as decorative purposes.[3]

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]

Work

Joannes Hermans painted animals, game pieces and still lifes of flowers and fruit.[2]

Still life around a bust of Ceres

It is only through the research of Eduard A. Safarik and other scholars in the 1970s that the artist known in Italy as 'Monsù Aurora' was identified with Joannes Hermans. Their conclusions were confirmed by the presence of the monogram "JHF" (Joannes Hermans Fecit) on one of the paintings in the Pamphili Palace attributed to Monsù Aurora. Through the attribution of further works to him, his stature among 17th century still life painters has steadily risen. In particular, his grandiose still lifes combining human figures, flowers and fruit anticipate the arrival in Rome in 1653 of Abraham Brueghel who created large-scale Baroque compositions of flowers, fruit and animals.[3] An example of such a large-scale composition by Hermans is the Still life around a bust of Ceres of 1653 (Sold at Cambi Casa d'Aste on 15 March 2011 in Genoa, lot 1452).[4]

Hermans also created garland paintings. Garland paintings are a special type of still life developed in Antwerp by artists such as Jan Brueghel the Elder, Hendrick van Balen, Frans Francken the Younger, Peter Paul Rubens and Daniel Seghers. They typically show a flower garland around a devotional image or portrait. Garland paintings were usually collaborations between a still life and a figure painter.[5][6] Two garland paintings by Hermans, depicting flower garlands around respectively a boy and a girl, are in private collections.[7][8]

Hermans is known to have collaborated with other artists. A Still Life with Fruit, Hunting Trophies, a Parrot, a Cat and a Dog is a collaboration with the Flemish animalier Jan Fyt.[9]

References

Still Life with Fruit, Hunting Trophies, a Parrot, a Cat and a Dog
  1. ↑ Variant name spellings: Johan Hermans, Johann Hermans, Johannes Hermans
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Joannes Hermans at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Natura viva, Coppia di dipinti ad olio su tela attribuiti a Joannes Hermans at the Associaz Cultur. Antonello Governale (Italian)
  4. ↑ Still life around a bust of Ceres of 1653 at Cambi Casa d'Aste (Italian)
  5. ↑ Ursula Härting, Review of Susan Merriam, Seventeenth-Century Flemish Garland Paintings. Still Life, Vision and the Devotional Image
  6. ↑ Huguette Vanagt, Daniël Seghers - Guirlande met de Heilige Theresia van Avila at Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen (Dutch)
  7. ↑ ritratto di fanciulla entro ghirlanda at Cultura Italia (Italian)
  8. ↑ ritratto di fanciullo entro ghirlanda at Cultura Italia (Italian)
  9. ↑ ""Still Life with Fruit, Hunting Trophies, a Parrot, a Cat and a Dog"" at Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder
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