(b Nuremberg, 19 May 1631; d Stockholm, 13 April 1711). German painter, draughtsman and etcher, active in Italy and Sweden. His initial studies in Hamburg, Haarlem and Nuremberg were supplemented by several years of study in Italy, where he is known to have worked in Rome and Venice and where he was strongly influenced by the battle pictures of Jacques Courtois, for whom he may have been a copyist. Many of Lemke’s drawings of the 1660s depict battles between Christians and Turks, suggesting that he accompanied the Venetian army serving against the Turks in Corfu. Although his graphic work has similarities with that of Dirck Stoop, his paintings capture the soft Mediterranean light of the Italian-based masters. In 1683 he was summoned to Sweden, where he executed large battle paintings in the lower and upper galleries in Drottningholm Slott (see fig.), depicting scenes from the wars of Karl X Gustav (reg 1654–60) and Karl XI (reg 1660–97), Kings of Sweden. These works are dominated by the flat, almost bird’s-eye-view wide landscape of the battlefield; foregrounds are occupied by lively, skilfully executed figures. Lemke also worked with Erik Dahlbergh on numerous drawings of lively battle scenes (Stockholm, Nmus.; Göteborg, Kstmus.).

• Lemke, Johann Philip
  • Brukenthal, Samuel