Elsheimer, Adam [key], 1578–1610?, German painter. After studying in Frankfurt, Munich, and Venice, he settled in Rome and worked for Pope Paul V. He painted small pictures on copper. They were chiefly of biblical and mythological subjects with landscape backgrounds, which he executed with minute precision. He had numerous students (including Pieter Lastman, who was the teacher of Rembrandt) and is thought to have had a considerable influence on Dutch landscape painting. Elsheimer was particularly successful in rendering light effects. His Good Samaritan is in the Louvre. Tobias and Coronis are both in the National Gallery in London.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: European Art to 1599: Biographies
