Herman van Swanevelt, ca. (1603–1655)

• Was a Dutch painter and etcher.
• Herman was born in Woerden to a family of thriving artisans whose ancestors included the famous painter Lucas van Leyden.
• A new hypothesis suggests that he was a pupil of Willem Buytewech.
• He painted his first signed and dated works in 1623 in Paris.
• In 1629 he moved to Rome, where he painted many landscapes.
• Swanevelt became a member of the Bentvueghels; his alias was "heremiet", while he preferred to work alone.
• His paintings became very popular and the Barberini family.
• Pope Urban VIII and the Vatican offered him commissions, like in the monastery of Monte Cassino.
• Along with Lorrain and others, he also painted landscapes for Philip IV of Spain's new Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid.

• In 1641 he returned to Paris, where he remained except for occasional visits to his birthplace Woerden.

• He became a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1651.

• His patrons in France were Cardinal Richelieu and King Louis XIV.

• Swanevelt lived in Rue du Temple when he died.

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