_Nicolas Berchem_ (Dutch: 1620-1683).
Nicolas Pietersz, son of Pieter Claesz, a painter, called
himself Berchem, by which name he is entered in the town
records of Haarlem, and by which he signed his pictures. He
married the daughter of his master, Jan Wils (No. 1007). In
1642 he became a member of the Guild of St. Luke at Haarlem.
No authentic information exists about his visiting Italy,
but that he had travelled in that country is clear from the
views represented in his pictures, and from the character
of his landscapes generally. His style resembles that of
another Dutch "Italianiser," Jan Both (No. 71), and there
seems to have been some rivalry between the two men. It is
related that a burgomaster of Dordrecht, Van der Hulk by
name, commissioned a picture from each painter, promising an
additional premium to the one whose work should be thought
the better. On the completion Of the pictures, the patron
declared that the admirable works had deprived him of the
capability of preference, and that both were entitled to the
premium. The picture painted on this occasion by Berchem is the
"Halt of Huntsmen," now in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg.
Berchem's landscapes are taken, says Dr. Richter, "from the
mountainous countries of Italy, and the types and costumes of
the figures therein represented are also entirely Italian,
though not copied direct from nature. He probably painted
most of his Italian landscapes in Holland. What characterises
him principally is a brilliant and easy touch, with which
he renders nature with more art than exactitude. He is more
ingenious in his conceptions than profound or true." The
mannerism and monotony of his works accord with what is told
of his life. In 1665, when at the height of his reputation, he
sold his labour to a dealer, from early in the morning to four
in the afternoon, for ten florins a day. His wife, it appears,
kept the purse, and is said to have doled out very scanty
supplies--a precaution which was perhaps necessary, as Berchem
had a weakness for Italian drawings, his collection of which
sold at his death for 12,800 florins.