Peeter Symons or Peeter Simons (''fl'' 1629–1636) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

painter only known for his collaboration with Rubens in 1636 on the commission from the Spanish king

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered ...

to create a series of mythological paintings to decorate the

Torre de la Parada The Torre de la Parada is a former hunting lodge that was located in present-day Monte de El Pardo in Fuencarral-El Pardo, near the Royal Palace of El Pardo, some way outside Madrid in the Sierra de Guadarrama. It was mostly destroyed by fire whe ...

, a hunting lodge of the king near

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

.J. J. Pérez Preciado, '' Symons, Peeter''
in: Enciclopedia del Museo Nacional del Prado, 2006, volume IV, p. 1183

Life

Very little is known about the life of Peeter Symons. He was possibly the son of Michiel Simons the Elder. He was registered in 1629 in the

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 ide ...

of Antwerp as the son of a master.Peeter Symons
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

He received various pupils including Michel de Rudder, Balthasar Willebeeck and Daniel Verbraken. In the Guild year 1636-1637 he was recorded for the last time as a master of the Guild. Anthony van Dyck painted a portrait of Symons (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) around 1630–1632. The portrait was made to be engraved and included in van Dyck's ''Iconography'' (Icones Principum Virorum), a collection of engraved portraits of leading personalities of van Dyck's time. The painting was engraved by possibly Jacobus de Han. The inclusion of Symons in this project of van Dyck demonstrates that Symons was held in high esteem by his fellow artists.

Work

The work of Peeter Symons is virtually unknown. An inventory of 1644 mentions a painting of a fish by Symons, which could be an indication that the artist painted still lifes. Symons collaborated with Rubens in the mid-1630s. Rubens received in 1636 a commission from the Spanish king

to create a series of mythological paintings to decorate the

, a hunting lodge of the king near

. The mythological scenes depicted in the series were largely based on the ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

'' of

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

. Rubens realized this important commission with the assistance of a large number of Antwerp painters such as Jacob Jordaens, Cornelis de Vos, Jan Cossiers,

Peter Snayers Peter Snayers or Pieter Snayers (1592–1667) was a Flemish painter known for his panoramic battle scenes, depictions of cavalry skirmishes, attacks on villages, coaches and convoys and hunting scenes. (p. 241-243, v.1; plate 92, v.2)Hans V ...

Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1613 – 23 January 1654) was a Dutch Republic-born Flemish Baroque painter. Biography Willeboirts Bosschaert was born in Bergen op Zoom, where his Catholic family had moved in the late sixteenth century. He moved ...

Theodoor van Thulden Theodoor van Thulden (1606–12 July 1669) was a painter, draughtsman and engraver from 's-Hertogenbosch. He is mainly known for his altarpieces, mythological subjects, allegorical works and portraits. He was active in Antwerp, where he had tr ...

Jan Boeckhorst Jan Boeckhorst or Johann Bockhorst (c. 1604 – 21 April 1668) was a German-born Flemish Baroque painter and draughtsman. He was a versatile artist who produced history paintings, genre scenes and portraits in a style influenced by the trio ...

Jacob Peter Gowy Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Isla ...

Jan Baptist Borrekens Jan Baptist Borrekens or Jan Baptist Borkens (17 May 1611 – 23 February 1675) was a Flemish painter and art dealer.J ...

and others, who worked after Rubens' designs. Peeter Symons was also involved in this project as a collaborator.Javier Portús Pérez, ''Torre de la Parada''
on the Prado website Two of the canvases which Symons created after designs by Rubens for this project are recorded. One representing ''Cephalus and Procris'' ( Museo del Prado, Madrid) is based on a sketch by Rubens also in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. This painting shows his formal dependence on Rubens, although Symons never achieved in his works the freshness of the master, since his figures are much more rigid and lack the dramatic tension of Rubens. A second canvas painted by Symons representing Neptune and a nymph for the Torre de la Parada is documented but now considered lost.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Symons, Peeter Flemish Baroque painters Flemish history painters Painters from Antwerp Year of birth uncertain 1636 deaths