Hendrick Frans van Lint, foremost among the vedutisti of the first half of the eighteenth century in Rome, followed a well-trodden path to success. Born in Antwerp, where he trained for a short time under Pieter van Bredael, he made his first trip to Rome in 1700 when he was just sixteen years old, before returning in 1710 to settle permanently in the city where he would make his career.
Van Lint’s friends and collaborators included Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli (1652/53–1736) and Jan Frans van Bloemen (1662–1749), aas well as members of the group of Dutch and Flemish artists living in Rome at the time who called themselves the Bentvueghels, meaning birds of a feather. These famously rowdy painters, sculptors, goldsmiths and engravers were best known for their bacchic revelries and penchant for assuming nicknames based on their artistic style. Van Lint, who prepared his compositions with extraordinary care, became known in this circle as “Monsù Studio.”