A rocky coastal landscape with fishermen hauling in their nets, as a storm approaches

The present picture is characteristic for the artist in both its subject and its free brushwork and impasto. It is to be compared with the picture in a private collection, Rome (L. Salerno, Pittori di Paesaggio del Seicento a Roma, II, 1978, p.212. Long forgotten, Jan de Momper was brought back from obscurity by R. Longhi, who tentatively compiled the artist's oeuvre and who named him "Monsu'X". Later, the identification of an inscription on the reverse of a picture in the Chigi collection, Ariccia, lead to the identification of Monsu'X as Jan de Momper. Little is known about the painter today. He was born in Antwerp, but must have left soon for Italy, where he is recorded in 1657 in Rome. His style reflects his Northern roots, as the brushwork reveals the influence of De Momper; the colourscheme is close to that of Magnasco.

See colour illustration