Pieter Spierinckx - Landscape with tavern and Roman aqueduct

Pieter Spierincks or Pieter Nicolaes Spierinckx (30 August 1635,

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

– 30 August 1711, Antwerp or England) was a Flemish painter and designer of tapestries. He was an important representative of the Italianizing movement in Flemish landscape painting. He worked for prominent patrons including the kings of France and Spain.

Life

Very little is known about the life and training of Pieter Spierincks. He became a master in the Antwerp

Guild of Saint Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was iden ...

in 1655.Pieter Spierincks
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

He was active in Antwerp in the period 1655–1660. Later he was in Italy, Lyon and Paris. In Paris he worked for the French king

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

for whom he painted landscapes. He was back in Antwerp in 1666. He was married to Jenne Marie de Jode, the daughter of the prominent engraver

Gerard de Jode Gerard de Jode (also known as Petrus de Jode; – 5 February 1591) was a Netherlandish cartographer, engraver, and publisher who lived and worked in Antwerp. In 1547, De Jode was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke, and began his work as ...

. He likely died in Antwerp although it is possible that he died during a trip to England. He was the teacher of Geeraert Cruys and Jean Carel van de Bruynel.

Work

Pieter Spierincks is known for his landscape paintings and the designs he made for the tapestry workshops in Brussels and Oudenaarde. The landscapes he painted for the French king are said to show the influence of

Salvator Rosa Salvator Rosa (1615 – March 15, 1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the ...

. His landscapes were also influenced by

Paul Bril Paul Bril (1554 – 7 October 1626) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter and printmaker principally known for his Landscape art, landscapes.Nicola Courtright. "Paul Bril." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. ...

. His Italianising landscapes further show similarity to the works of

Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...

, particularly in the luminosity of his countryside scenes. His Italianising style was very popular in his time and represents the decorative trend that arose in Flemish art in the middle of the 17th century. The staffage in his landscapes was regularly the work of specialist painters such as

Peter Ykens Peter Ykens (1648 – 1695), was a Flemish painter mainly known for his history paintings and portraits. He regularly collaborated with specialist still painters and landscape artists for whose works he provided the staffage.< ...

.Spierinckx, Pieter Nicolaes
in the Prado encyclopedia online The cartoons he made for the tapestry workshops were often a collaborative effort with other artists such as

Lodewijk van Schoor Lodewijk van SchoorLouis van Schoor
at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (c. 1645, City of Brussels ...

and Peter Ykens. Some hunting still lifes formerly attributed to him are likely the work of J.J. Spoede. A pair of his landscape paintings are held by the

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

in Madrid. They were part of the

Spanish royal collection The Spanish royal collection of art was almost entirely built up by the monarchs of the Habsburg family who ruled Spain from 1516 to 1700, and then the House of Bourbon, Bourbons (1700–1868, with a brief interruption). They included a number of ...

.Pieter Spierincks
at the Prado

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spierincks, Pieter Flemish Baroque painters Flemish landscape painters Flemish tapestry artists 1635 births 1711 deaths Painters from Antwerp