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Pieter Snyers or Peter Snijers (first name also written as: 'Peeter' and nickname 'De Heilige' or 'The Holy One') (30 March 1681 – 4 May 1752) was a
at the
He entered on 17 August 1741 into an agreement with five other artists to provide free tuition as the directors of the
in: Christiaan Kramm, ''De levens en werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche kunstschilders, beeldhouwers, graveurs en bouwmeesters, van den vroegsten tot op onzen tijd''. Gebroeders Diederichs, Amsterdam 1857-1864 Snyers was the teacher of his nephew Pieter Jan Snyers and
Snyers painted a series of 12 paintings, each representing a different month of the year. This series is regarded as the masterpiece of the artist and never left his studio during his lifetime. The paintings were dispersed in 1763 when they were auctioned off. Two of the paintings (January and July) are now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp and two (April and May) in the
Pieter Snyers or Peter Snijers (first name also written as: 'Peeter' and nickname 'De Heilige' or 'The Holy One') (30 March 1681 – 4 May 1752) 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; ...
art collector, painter, draughtsman and engraver. He practised a wide variety of genres, including portraits, genre painting, still life and landscape painting. Peter Snijersat 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 ...
His masterpiece is a series of 12 paintings, each representing a different month of the year.Peter Snijers, ''Leeuw'' at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
Life
Pieter Snyers was born inAntwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
as the son of well-off merchant Peter and his wife Anna de Decker.''Peter Snijers'' in: Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, p. 1207-1208 He studied under Alexander van Bredael
Alexander van Bredael (1 April 1663 – 14 July 1720) was a Flemish painter known for Italianate landscapes and genre scenes of fairs, cattle markets and villages.
in 1694. He was registered as a master of 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 ide ...
in 1707.
He is reported to have resided in London in the period from 1720 to 1726, where he painted portraits of various members of the nobility and clergymen. The artist who principally painted portraits of priests or monks, led such a calm and pious lifestyle that he was given the nickname ''De Heilige'' or ''The Holy One''. He married Maria Catharina van der Boven, the daughter of a lawyer, in 1726. This marriage produced no issue. He was successful as an artist, and able to buy a house on the prestigious Meir in Antwerp and assemble a large collection of Flemish and Dutch masters there.
He entered on 17 August 1741 into an agreement with five other artists to provide free tuition as the directors of the Antwerp Academy
The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp ( nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen) is an art academy located in Antwerp, Belgium. It is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It was founded in 1663 by David Teniers the Younger ...
. The Academy would eventually replace the Guild of Saint Luke.
Snyers died in Antwerp. His estate included a large collection of art works of major artists of the preceding century showing that he was well-off. His nephew and pupil Pieter Jan Snyers was heir to his considerable fortune.Snyers (Peeter)in: Christiaan Kramm, ''De levens en werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche kunstschilders, beeldhouwers, graveurs en bouwmeesters, van den vroegsten tot op onzen tijd''. Gebroeders Diederichs, Amsterdam 1857-1864 Snyers was the teacher of his nephew Pieter Jan Snyers and
Jacob Xavier Vermoelen
Jacob Xavier Vermoelen or Jacob Xaver VermoelenName variations: Jacobus Xaverus Vermoelen, Jacques Xavier Vermoelen, Jacob Xaver Vermolen (c. 1714 - 1784) was a Habsburg Netherlands, Flemish painter of still lifes and game pieces who was active in ...
.Work
Snyers was a versatile artist who painted in many genres including portraits,genre paintings
Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...
, landscapes
A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionar ...
, still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
s, flower pieces, animal paintings, fruit pieces, game pieces, vegetable still lifes and plants. He painted both on large canvases and small copper plates. He was said never to have painted a composition twice.
Snyers painted a series of 12 paintings, each representing a different month of the year. This series is regarded as the masterpiece of the artist and never left his studio during his lifetime. The paintings were dispersed in 1763 when they were auctioned off. Two of the paintings (January and July) are now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp and two (April and May) in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Muse ...
in Brussels. Another two, those for March and December, were auctioned by Christie's (New York, 29 January 1998, lot 3). There is a reduced copy of the month of March in the Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...
in Amsterdam. The paintings in the series are genre paintings which include a representation of each month by its astrological sign. The painting of the month of January in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp depicts three Epiphany
Epiphany may refer to:
* Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight
Religion
* Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ
** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...
singers with a big star and a few women and children with special cakes, particular to the winter season, together with a man pouring water who symbolises Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:
Astrology
* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainme ...
, the astrological sign of January. The painting series may, directly or indirectly, have inspired Pieter Casteels III and Jacob van Huysum
Jacob van Huysum (1688 – 1740) was an 18th-century botanical painter from the northern Netherlands who moved to England in 1721.
Van Huysum was baptized 25 February 1688 in Amsterdam.
His still lifes include outdoor settings with dead game and forest floors and indoor compositions with a profusion of small objects, fruits, single blossoms, nuts and other objects scattered across a surface.
Snyers was also an engraver. The Peter Snijers, ''Zelfportret''
at the Rijksmuseum
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
holds a charming portrait of a sleeping boy by Snyers. He also produced an etched self-portrait (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Ste ...
).at the Rijksmuseum
Notes
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Snyers, Pieter 1681 births 1752 deaths 18th-century Flemish painters Flemish still life painters Flemish genre painters Flemish portrait painters Flemish engravers Painters from Antwerp