Buy Museum Art Reproductions Hanging Gardens of Babylon by Maerten Van Heemskerck (1498-1574) | WahooArt.com

Maerten Van Heemskerck (i)
Maarten Van Heemskerck was a Dutch portrait and religious painter who spent most of his career in Harlem. He was greatly fascinated and influenced by Michelangelo and adopted an Italian-influenced style. He was well known for his “Wonders of the World'' series which includes Hanging Gardens of Babylon, painted two years before his death. The series represented the wonders of the world through Heemskerck’s eyes. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon was said to be a gift to King Nebukhadnessar’s wife because she missed the green scenery from her homeland. It was said that the garden was built alongside King Nebuchadnezzar's castle; it was overwhelmed with immense vegetation all around. The artist represented this ancient place quite literally, as we can see there is no vegetation on land, all are elevated and there seems to be an in built water irrigation that supplies water making them green all year long. The Tower of Babel stands tall in the background and although no Bablylonian text that mentions the garden, descriptions of it in classical literature can be found dating back to Berossus, a Babylonian priest of Marduk [c290BC], which was quoted by the historian Josephus (c. 37–100 AD)