F. Duro - Flamengus pingebat: updates and clarification about Ernst van Schayck

The purpose of this article is to present some research on the artistic production of Northern European painters who worked in the Marche during the 17th Century, analyzing in particular the experience and works of Ernst Van Schayck.

The painter from Utrecht arrived in Italy in 1595 and, after an initial period of activity in Romagna, moved to the Marche, where his presence is documented from 1600 until his death in 1632.

Van Schayck painted altarpieces for several churches in different cities of his adopted region: Castelfidardo, where he got married, Camerano, Sirolo, Polverigi, Recanati, Mondolfo, Filottrano, Matelica, Sant’Elpidio a Mare, Cagli, Mondolfo, Serra de’ Conti, Osimo, Sassoferrato, Castelbellino, Macerata, Fermo, Camerino, Appignano, Montelupone and San Severino. In these canvases he often repeated - with several variations - the compositional schemes he had already proposed in Romagna, in accordance with the artistic dictates of the Counter-Reformation.

Besides numerous altarpieces, the Dutch painter also worked as a portrait painter: this artistic activity is revealed in some signed works and archive documents.

Van Schayck showed how he adapted his style to the region where he lived and worked, adding the knowledge of Italian and local art to his initial Nordic artistic training. This is particularly evident in the drawings he did in his native land. Furthermore, some of his altarpieces are clearly derived from engravings by other artists such as Girolamo Muziano and Hans von Aachen, while others reveal how he was aware of Federico Barocci’s artistic production, a painter who was particularly appreciated by Northern European artists.

Ernst van Schayck, Netherlandish painting, Marche