Bonaventura Peeters the Elder

Bonaventura Peeters (I) or Bonaventura Peeters the Elder (23 July 1614 – 25 July 1652) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and etcher. He became one of the leading marine artists in the Low Countries in the first half of the 17th century with his depictions of marine battles, storms at sea, shipwrecks and views of ships in rivers and harbours.

Life Peeters was born in Antwerp as the son of Cornelis Peeters and Catharina van Eelen. He was baptised in the church of St. Walpurgis in Antwerp on 23 July 1614. He was a brother of the seascape painters Jan the Elder, Gillis the Elder and Catharina Peeters.

Nothing is known about his early training although it is possible that Andries van Eertvelt, a specialist of stormy sea paintings, was his master. Bonaventura became a master in Antwerp's Guild of Saint Luke in 1634. He was the teacher of his siblings Catharina and Jan Peeters (I).

Work Bonaventura's marine paintings comprise the whole range of battle scenes, storms, shipwrecks, views of ships in rivers, coastal waters and harbours, night scenes etc. His earliest marine paintings are panoramic views. His intimate and accurate knowledge of ships may hint at an early life spent at sea. He paid particular attention to the detailed depiction of clouds and waves.

Many of Peeters' paintings depict actual locations along the North Sea and the river Scheldt and these subjects form the bulk of his artistic production. He may have even travelled along the coast of Scandinavia as is shown by his views of the port of Archangel in Northern Russia one of which offers a scene of reindeers or elks pulling sledges. His other views of Scandinavian ports and scenes support the view that he may have travelled there.

Bonaventura collaborated with other family members and artists in Antwerp. For instance, he collaborated with his brother Gillis on a painting of the Battle of Kallo. As he was a gifted staffage painter he was asked by other painters to paint the figures in their compositions. His collaboration with father and son Pieter Neeffs the Elder and the Younger, painters of church interiors, is documented in the signed examples in the National Gallery in London and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.