Jan Peeters the Elder

Jan Peeters the Elder or Johannes Peeters (24 April 1624 – 1677) was a Flemish Baroque painter and draughtsman. He is known for his seascapes often depicting stormy seas and shipwrecks as well as for his topographical drawings, many of which were engraved by contemporary printmakers and published by the Antwerp printers.

Life Peeters was born in Antwerp as the son of Cornelis Peeters and Catharina van Eelen. He was the brother of the painters Gillis, Bonaventura I and Catharina. He studied with his brothers Bonaventura and Gillis as well as Joannes Boots. He became a master of Antwerp's Guild of St. Luke in 1645. Johannes Franciscus became a painter about whom very little is known with certainty.

In 1659 Jan Peeters spent six months in the Dutch Republic drawing panoramas of several towns and harbours. These were later engraved by Gaspar Bouttats. Because of his many drawings of distant locations he is believed to have travelled throughout France, Italy, Libya, Cairo and Jerusalem. His subjects ranged from domestic marine scenes to Mediterranean settings. Some paintings represent naval battles and naval attacks on fortresses. He painted rough seas with shipwrecks and ships sailing in calm waters. He was good at representing atmospheric conditions, especially of clouds.

Jan Peeters is further known for his topographical drawings of various locations that were used as designs by different engravers. Wenceslaus Hollar engraved in 1651 a set of six plates of ports etched by Hollar after various artists after drawings by Peeters and other artists. The Flemish engraver Gaspar Bouttats etched the 14 plates for a folio volume of city views of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas published in 1672 by the publisher Jacobus Peeters under the title Views from Arabia, Judea, Chaldea, Syria, Jerusalem, Antiochia, Aleppo, Mecca etc. after drawings by Jan Peeters (I).

Bouttats also used drawings by Jan Peeters (I) for the 1674 publication (Scene of the Cities and the Forts of the United Netherlands with the Neighbouring Places like Brabant, Flanders and on the Rhine and Conquered Elsewhere by the Weapons of the Great and Mighty Sovereign States under the Leadership of the Very Noble Prince of Orange). This publication contained views of the major cities and forts in the Dutch Republic, Flanders and along the Rhine.

Drawings by Jan Peeters were the basis for some of the prints engraved by Gaspar Bouttats and Lucas Vorsterman II for the publication by Jacob Peeters in Antwerp of several sets of prints issued under the title This was a series of maps and views of locations in Southern Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East.