Matthieu van Plattenberg

He spent most of his career abroad, first in Italy and then in France where he played an important role in the development of the painting of stormy seascapes.

[5] In France, van Plattenberg called himself 'Matthieu (de) Platte-Montaigne' or 'Platte-Montagne' and also signed his works with '(M) Montagne' or '(M) Montaigne'.

The art historian Marcel Roethlisberger has compared several dozen unsigned paintings of sea storms that traditionally were attributed to Monsù Montagna.

He found that these paintings form a consistent group in that they combine Flemish types with a broad painterly treatment resembling the work of Salvator Rosa.

Mulier was especially known for the stormy skies of his seascapes and Plattenberg's paintings are believed to anticipate Tempesta's early sea storms.

[6] Van Plattenberg is also to be distinguished from Montagne of Venice (or Rinaldo della Montagna), who was also a marine painter mentioned by Cesare Malvasia in his biography of Guido Reni (p. 78).