Gaspar Roomer

Gaspar Roomer was a prominent Flemish merchant and art patron of the early 17th century. Born in Antwerp, he lived for at least four decades in Naples. He became very wealthy from shipping enterprises, mainly to the Flemish and Dutch provinces and from banking. he owned Palazzo della Stella in Naples. He died in 1674, owning a collection of over 1,500 paintings. He was active in selling paintings from Southern Italy to the North, and vice versa, thus he was a conduit for the dispersion of styles. It was dispersed throughout Europe after his death.

His taste was both contemporary, and broad in style and across nationalities. He collected Caravaggist paintings, landscapes, and genre paintings. Painters in his collections included(alphabetical): Leonard Bramer, Giacinto Brandi, Giacomo Borgognone, Jan van Boeckhorst, Gerard van der Bos, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Paul Brill, Caracciolo, Castiglione, Viviano Codazzi, Jacques Duyvelant, Aniello Falcone, Giordano, Guercino, David de Haen, Pieter van Laer, Jan Miel, Cornelius van Poelenburgh, Cornelis Schut, Goffredo Wals, Bartolommeo Passante, Mattia Preti, Ribera, Rubens, Sacchi, Saraceni, Massimo Stanzione, Van Dyck, Simon Vouet, and Pieter de Witte.

• Haskell, Francis (1993). Patrons and Painters: Art and Society in Baroque Italy. Yale University Press.