Thomas a Kempis was born around 1380 in Kempen. Thomas was a priest, writer, mystic and copyist. At the age of 12, he left for Deventer to study. There he came into contact with the Modern Devotion Movement. He became an Augustinian monk and from 1398 lived most of his life in Zwolle in the monastery on Agnietenberg. In 1413 or 1414 he became a priest. Although Thomas withdrew into the monastery, he did not lose sight of the world around him. He wrote down quotations and sayings from his surroundings in a notebook. These notes probably formed the basis for his "De Imitatione Christi". Within Christian culture, this work is considered the most widely read book after the Bible. The book was written in Latin and has been translated into almost every language.  New translations are still being published. Of the more than 3000 editions, about 1000 are kept in the British Museum. In the Royal Library in Brussels the handwritten copy is kept. Besides the "Imitatione", Thomas wrote many other works. Thomas a Kempis died on July 25, 1471 in the monastery where he had lived for more than 70 years. He was buried in the monastery and later exhumed again, and his mortal remains were kept in a shrine in the St Michael's Church in Zwolle. In 2006, his remains were transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption in Zwolle. 

 

Donovan Spaanstra (Zwolle, 1971) generally draws his inspiration from the old masters. He says: 'I translate classic art with the modern medium of the spray can". In the media Spaanstra is also called Rembrandt with an aerosol.