Peeter Symons

Peeter Symons or Peeter Simons (fl 1629–1636) was a Flemish painter only known for his collaboration with Rubens in 1636 on the commission from the Spanish king Philip IV of Spain to create a series of mythological paintings to decorate the Torre de la Parada, a hunting lodge of the king near Madrid.

Life Very little is known about the life of Peeter Symons. He was possibly the son of Michiel Simons the Elder. He was registered in 1629 in the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp as the son of a master. He received various pupils including Michel de Rudder, Balthasar Willebeeck and Daniel Verbraken. Two of the canvases which Symons created after designs by Rubens for this project are recorded. One representing Cephalus and Procris (Museo del Prado, Madrid) is based on a sketch by Rubens also in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. This painting shows his formal dependence on Rubens, although Symons never achieved in his works the freshness of the master, since his figures are much more rigid and lack the dramatic tension of Rubens. A second canvas painted for the Torre de la Parada representing Neptune and a nymph is documented but now considered lost.