5.1 Introduction
This article reconstructs the Roman life and work of the Dutch painter Johan Hendrik Koelman (1820-1887), who lived in the Eternal City from 1840 until his death [1]. Koelman’s case is unique, yet exemplary of the impact of such long stays by foreign artists in Italy. That impact concerns both their personal development and self-image, as well as the broader cultural significance attributed to the artist’s study trip to Italy. The article shows how Koelman found his way in Rome in the area of tension between his Dutch origins and Italian and cosmopolitan perspectives, and how this was valued by his (Dutch) contemporaries. In this mirror game of intercultural imagery, art, politics and society appear to be inextricably connected.
1
Johan Philip Koelman,
Portrait of Johan Hendrik Koelman, brother of the artist, 1850, [detail]
oil on canvas, 33 × 26 cm,
collection Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, inv. no. C 823, photo Margareta Svensson