The Amsterdam born Hendrick Mommers (1620-1693) was a pupil of Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683). Together with Berchem he traveled to Rome, where they stayed between 1644 and 1646, attracted to the sunlit landscapes of the Roman Campagna. Mommers joined the Bentvueghels where he acquired the nickname Slempop. After his return to The Netherlands he was a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke between 1647 and 1673. Mommers became particularly known for his pastoral scenes with sheep and cattle, or market scenes with bunches of vegetables, often set against the backdrop of the Lazio landscape or Roman ruins. He was notable for the vibrant red and blue tones with which he painted the clothing of his figures. He also painted Dutch landscapes, featuring shepherds and grazing cattle, with immense, cloud-filled skies. His use of color, warm, blond tones, is strongly reminiscent of the landscapes and genre scenes of Aelbert Cuyp. He was the first teacher of the young painter Dirk Maas (1656-1717), who later studied with Nicolaes Berchem as well.
Drawings by Mommers are exceedingly rare. Although we haven't traced yet the mirror image of this counter-proof of a young woman holding a basket of laundry in the staffage of confirmed autograph paintings by the hand of Mommers, it's easily imaginable to see her amidst a sun-drenched Italian landscape in the mid of the seventeenth century when Mommers was there with his master Berchem.
A drawing by the same hand also depicting the same model with her chubby cheeks, almond-shaped eyes and in an identical dress, is in Frankfurt as Adriaen van de Velde (1636-1672).[1] The hatchings are extremely closely comparable, as also other physical indentifications like the rendering of the mouth and lips.
[1] Adriaen van de Velde, Bauernmädchen, eine Schüssel auf dem Kopf tragend.
Red chalk, 199 x 94 mm. Staedelmuseum, Frankfurt. Inv. no. 920 Z
