Hendrik Frans Van Lint (Antwerp 1684 - Rome 1763)

The Flemish painter Hendrik Frans van Lint (Antwerp 1684 – Rome 1763), grandson of Peter van Lint (Antwerp 1609 – 1690) and father of Giacomo (Rome 1723 – 1790), is best-known for the landscapes and vedute he painted during his long sojourn in Rome. For the van Lints, and for the numerous other Northern artists living in Rome at the time,  a visit to the city was essential in order to keep abreast of artistic developments and gain commissions. Hendrik Frans, the most famous of the three, spent two-thirds of his life in Rome. His son Giacomo was born there and later followed in his father’s footsteps, working almost exclusively on the sights and scenes of Rome. Peter, painter of human figures, also worked in the city, producing easel paintings and frescoing churches, including part of the Chapel of the Crucifixion in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo. During his time in Rome, Hendrik Frans, who earned the soubriquet Studio, emulated the Dutch painter Gaspar van Wittel, depicting vedute of Rome and Lazio and imaginary landscapes with the “ideal” and “classical” poeticism of 17th-century artists such as Claude Lorrain and Gaspard Dughet. These were commercial works and they became somewhat standardized towards the end of van Lint’s life, when he enjoyed depicting the glorious ruins of ancient Rome alongside more modern monuments.