Name Pieter Snayers Died 1666, Brussels, Belgium | Period Baroque | |
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Artwork A siege of a city, thought to be the siege of Gulik by the Spanish under the command of Hendrik van den Bergh, 5 September 1621-3 February 1622 | ||
Pieter snayers
Pieter Snayers (1592 – 1666 or 1667) was a Flemish Baroque painter known for representations of historical battle scenes.
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Born in Antwerp, he studied under Sebastiaen Vrancx before joining Antwerp's Guild of St. Luke in 1612. By 1628, Snayers was a citizen in Brussels.
There, he worked first for Archduchess Isabella, and was later the court painter for Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. For them he painted scenes of victorious battles in the tradition of sixteenth-century tapestries.
Snayers also collaborated with Peter Paul Rubens on several occasions, including the never-finished Life of Henry IV (1628–30) and the Torre de la Parada series (c. 1637–1640). He also painted portraits of aristocracy in Brussels and large landscapes. Snayers's best-known pupil was Adam Frans van der Meulen.
Snayers died at Brussels in 1666 or 1667.
Pieter Snayers, der Schlachtenmaler
Battle scenes
Snayers' historical battle scenes demonstrate a close attention to topographic accuracy. Frequently, his paintings show a shallow foreground that recedes sharply to show a besieged town from a bird's-eye perspective.
Stylistically, his colouring was more subdued than his teacher Vrancx and reflects contemporary trends in Flemish and Dutch painting.