Jacob Peter Gowy

Jacob Peter Gouwy or Jacob Peter Gowy (c. 1610 – after 1644 and before 1664) was a Flemish Baroque painter of history paintings and portraits. He collaborated with Peter Paul Rubens and spent time in England where he was active as a portrait painter. As the creator of a large picture of a horse painted in England he can be considered one of the pioneers of the genre of portraits of horses.

Life

Little is known about the life and career of Jacob Peter Gouwy. He was a disciple of Paul van Overbeeck in Antwerp. He was registered as an apprentice in the records of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in the Guild year 1632–33. Two of the canvases which Gouwy created after designs by Rubens, one representing The Fall of Icarus and the other Hippomenes and Atalanta, are in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. A comparison with Rubens' original designs shows that the artist only made minor modifications to these designs. Gouwy also painted Thomas Wood, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (Oxford, Christ Church College), as well as a portrait of an unknown man (c. 1645 to 1650, formerly at Wilton Castle).