Jan de Momper

Jan de Momper, also known as Giovanni de Momper (16 August 1614 or 1617 - 1684/1704) was a Flemish landscape painter who, after training in Antwerp, had a successful career in Rome where he worked for an elite clientele. The artist was forgotten until his rediscovery in 1959. His highly expressionist landscapes executed with a very free brush make the artist a unique case in the artistic panorama of Baroque Rome.

Jan de Momper was born in Antwerp according to Italian sources. He was likely born on 16 August 1614 as the son of the painter Jan de Momper (II). His father was a brother of the prominent landscape painter Joos de Momper. The de Momper family was a prominent family of landscape painters and printmakers, originally from Bruges, which had settled in Antwerp in the 16th century. Nothing is known about Jan's training but it is believed to have taken place in the family. After the early death of his father, he is believed to have trained to be an embroiderer. He was registered as an embroiderer in 1635 at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as a 'wijnmeester', i.e. the son of a member. Jan likely left Antwerp in the late 1630s when the family de Momper's large studio collapsed after the death of Joos de Momper, the leading artist in the family.

In the year 1657 the artist was recorded in Rome in connection with a commission to produce 9 landscapes for the prominent Roman Doria Pamphilj family. Some of his works are still present in the Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome where the family's large art collection is currently housed. In 1661 he was a well-established painter in Rome, as evidenced by a very important order from another distinguished art loving family in Rome, the Chigi family. He had very likely already been working in Rome well before the first records of his presence in the city.

Jan de Momper is believed to have joined the Bentvueghels, an organization of mainly Flemish and Dutch painters active in Rome. It was the custom of the Bentvueghels to adopt a nickname, the so-called bent name, at the time a member was admitted. The bent name of Jan de Momper was 'Eervrucht' ('Fruit of Honour').

Jan de Momper was linked with the prominent Flemish battle painter Vincent Adriaenssen who was active in Rome. Jan's wife Agnes Vincentii, who died in Rome on 19 April 1684, was Adriaenssen's daughter. Adriaenssen was also his early mentor in Rome.

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