LORME, Anthonie de

Dutch painter, specialized in church interiors and painted mostly in Rotterdam. His earliest known picture, a small panelGLOSSARYTerm in painting for a support of wood, metal, or other rigid substance, as distinct from canvas. Until the adoption of canvas in the 15th century nearly all the movable paintings of Europe were executed on wood, and even up to the beginning of the 17th century it is probable that as much painting was done on the one support as on the other. Painters who worked on a small scale often used copper panels (Elsheimer is a leading example), and in the colonial art of South America copper and tin and even lead and zinc were used. On a larger scale, slate has occasionally been used as a support, notably by Rubens for his altarpiece for Sta Maria in Vallicella (the Chiesa Nuova) in Rome; the picture he originally painted was said to reflect the light unpleasantly and slate was used for the replacement to produce a more matt finish. For wood panels the Italian masters of the Renaissance preferred white poplar, while oak was the most common wood used in northern Europe. Many other types were used, however; analysis of the contents of art galleries has yielded a long list, including beech, cedar, chestnut, fir, larch, linden, mahogany, olive, and walnut. In the 20th century cedar, teak, and dark walnut are favourites, and modern painters have also used plywood, fibre-board, and other synthetic materials as supports. signed and dated 1639, shows a coffered barrel vaultGLOSSARYA ceiling that is like a continuous circular arch or tunnel, contrasted with vaults that are supported on ribs or a series of arches. Also tunnel vault. reflecting candlelight in Rotterdam's Laurenskerk. His imaginary interiors of the 1640s often betrayed an enthusiasm for flashy effects like candlelit vaults and pools of shade thrown by glowing chandeliers.

Imaginary church views were De Lorme's specialty for the first twenty years of his career, but around 1652 he turned suddenly to painting simple and accurate renditions of local churches with a few figures, probably inspired by painters in nearby Delft. During the 1650s, he painted church interiors close-up, bathed in light and atmosphere. He painted the Laurenskerk at least seventeen times, so accurately that his paintings were used by the church's restorers after World War II.

In the 1660s De Lorme refined his simple, realistic style into a more decorative manner, using architecture to create an elegant geometric pattern rather than an objective view.