Mattheus van Beveren

Mattheus van Beveren or Matthias van Beveren (1635 or 1636, Antwerp – 25 September 1691, Brussels) was a Flemish sculptor and medalist who is mainly known for his monumental Baroque church sculptures and small wood and ivory sculptures. He also made medals and die designs for the Antwerp Mint.

Life Details about his life are scarce. It is believed that he was born in 1635 or 1636 as on 27 March 1686, he testified and declared to be 50 years old. He was treasurer of the Guild in the 1660s and 1670s.

Mattheus van Beveren ran a large sculpture workshop with a significant output. In 1656 he was commissioned to remodel the house 'De Cijferboeck' in the Kerkhofstraat in Antwerp. This house was the residence of Frans de Bie the Elder, the father of the painter Erasmus de Bie. He trained various pupils including Jan Baptist Santvoort, Anthoni de Winter, Jan Baptist Doms, Peeter Libot, Petrus Bouttats

Work Van Beveren was a versatile artist in terms of the subject range of his sculptures as well as the materials in which he worked. He executed monumental works in marble, stone and wood as well as small-scale works in wood, ivory and terracota. He further was a medalist and produced designs for dies for the Antwerp Mint.

He executed the main altar in the St Nicholas Church in Ghent. He collaborated with some of the leading Flemish sculptors in the execution of large religious sculptures. He assisted Lucas Faydherbe with the painted wood and stone high altar in the St Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen.

His designs were used by his large workshop and other contemporary artists in the creation of numerous sculptures. The Brussels sculptor Jan Cosijn, for instance, sculpted the marble statues for the funerary chapel of Duke Lamoral of Thurn and Taxis after a design by van Beveren.

Matheus van Beveren was known for his small-scale works, and in particular his ivory sculptures. He and his workshop often used paintings by Rubens as models for numerous ivory crucifixes.

He also made medals, as shown by the terracotta model for a medallion with the portrait of Anthony van Dyck. He further made die designs for the Antwerp Mint.