When van Heemskerck was in Rome in 1536, he got work as a "scene-painter". This is like a person who paints the scenery in a theatre. Charles V had coming to Rome and was going to have a "triumphal procession". The streets of the city were decorated with archways for the emperor to pass under. Van Heemskerck worked with Antonio da San Gallo, Battista Franco and Francesco Salviati. The writer Giorgio Vasari saw some battle scenes that he painted and wrote that they were well composed and boldly painted.