Paulus van Hillegaert (I)

Paulus van Hillegaert (I) or Pauwels van Hillegaert (I) (1596–1640) was a Dutch painter and draughtsman, known mainly for his landscapes, military scenes and equestrian portraits. He may also have painted the staffage in the landscape paintings of the Flemish painter Alexander Keirincx who worked for some time in Amsterdam. His work is closely related to that of the Dutch painter Henri Ambrosius Pacx.

Life Van Hillegaert was baptized 29 July 1596 in Amsterdam. His parents were Flemish immigrants Francois van Hillegaert (from Leuven and Janneke Spierinx (from Antwerp).

He was buried in Amsterdam on 10 February 1640.

He often executed multiple versions of paintings as he likely worked mainly for the open market and less often on commission for the House of Orange or official institutions. For instance, four known version of the Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch are known. He may have added the figures in a landscape by Alexander Keirincx.

A number of landscape drawings, some of Italianate landscapes, have been attributed to the artist.