Elsheimer was a highly influential artist who painted small-scale works on copper. He combined precision of technique with inventive explorations of landscapes, multiple light sources and exotic figures, to create different moods. His output was small but influenced artists of the calibre of Rubens, Rembrandt and Claude. His compositions were disseminated through the medium of prints.
Elsheimer was born and trained in Frankfurt. In about 1598 he appears to have been in Munich. He then travelled south and for about two years worked in Venice; 'The Baptism of Christ' was apparently painted there.
The dynamic compositions and spectacularlighting effects of the work of Venetian artists like Tintoretto and Veronese had a profound influence on him. From 1600 until his death Elsheimer lived and worked in Rome, where Rubens struck up a friendship with him.
Adam Elsheimer
1578 - 1610
Paintings by Adam Elsheimer
On the orders of the pope, Saint Lawrence, a deacon of the early Christian Church, distributed church property to the poor in Rome. When the Roman authorities discovered what he was doing, they ordered him to hand over the treasures to the city. He refused, and when pressed to give up his Christi...
The story of Saint Paul’s shipwreck on the island of Malta is described in Acts (28: 1–6), and Adam Elsheimer has taken advantage of the biblical description to portray a night scene: ‘And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, becau...
Christ is shown bending down in the River Jordan as Saint John baptises him, pouring water over his head. An angel and two cherubs carry a red cloth to wrap around Christ after his baptism. The sky has opened up to reveal the intense light of heaven where the bearded figure of God the Father is s...
After Adam Elsheimer
This scene comes from the apocryphal Book of Tobit. Old and blind, Tobit had sent his son Tobias on a long journey to collect a debt on his behalf. Here, Tobias drags an enormous fish across the ground. He is watched closely by the Archangel Raphael, who had instructed the boy to catch a fish, th...