Peter Snayers

Peter Snayers or Pieter Snayers (1592–1667) was a Flemish painter known for his panoramic battle scenes, depictions of cavalry skirmishes, attacks on villages, coaches and convoys and hunting scenes. He established his reputation mainly through his topographic battle scenes providing a bird's eye view over the battlefield. He further painted large landscapes and portraits of the aristocracy. He was a regular collaborator of local landscape painters and also Rubens.

Life Snayers was born in Antwerp, where he was baptized on 24 November 1592. His father Lodewijk was the city messenger of Antwerp for Brussels. His mother was Catharina Gijsberts. He was enrolled as a pupil of Sebastiaen Vrancx in Antwerp's Guild of St. Luke in 1612. Sebastiaen Vrancx was a prominent battle and genre painter. In 1613, Snayers was registered as a master painter in the Guild. Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid.

Snayers joined the painters' guild in Brussels on 16 June 1628. He became a citizen of Brussels at the same time. It is believed he had been working for the Archduke Albert (died in 1621) while living in Antwerp. He had been appointed court painter and 'domesticq van 't Hof" (domestic of the court) by the Archduke. Snayers likely moved to Brussels in order to pursue opportunities at the court of the Archduchess Isabella, the widow of the Archduke and the governess of the Southern Netherlands.

After Isabella's death in 1633, Snayers became court painter to the next two governors, the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria (1634–1641) and the Archduke Leopold (Wilhelm) (1647–1656). He was thus an example of the 17th century 'aristocratization' of successful citizens.

His pupils included Guilliam van Schoor and Adam Frans van der Meulen. The latter became a leading battle painter and court painter to Louis XIV. His historical battle scenes demonstrate a close attention to topographic accuracy. The Archduchess Isabella at the Siege of Breda Prado Museum, Madrid.

Snayers generally did not include in his compositions any explanatory signs, symbols or legends that would help the viewer in identifying which battle was depicted. The absence of such explanatory elements preserved the realism of the picture but also required the viewer to have prior information to understand the subject. As most of his works were commissioned by the highest military leaders in the Habsburg (Spanish and Imperial) army they would have known the scenes depicted.

His large canvases clearly played a dual role: they documented the historical event and at the same time they glorified the military men who participated in the action. The compositions were painted from the point of the patron who commissioned them. Equestrian portraits of the patrons and their coats of arms were included so that their military feats were immortalized. The compositions thus justified the patrons' eminent status in society as well as their loyalty to the Habsburg court. The heroic images were also intended to serve as a model for later generations. As his works' distribution remained limited to the Spanish side, the decay of the Habsburg dynasty in the second half of the 17th century affected the artist's international reputation.

Collaborations

As was common in 17th century artistic practice in Antwerp, Snayers often collaborated with other artists. He was a regular collaborator with landscape painters Joos de Momper, Jan Brueghel the Younger and Alexander Keirincx. He also collaborated with Rubens. The collaborations with Jan Brueghel the Younger date from after 1634.

Snayers' collaborations with Peter Paul Rubens included the never-finished cycle on the Life of Henry IV (1628–30) and the Torre de la Parada series (c. 1637–1640). Marie de' Medici had been the Queen of France as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. Following the assassination of her husband in 1610, she acted as regent for her son, King Louis XIII, until he came of age. The series on the life of the Queen was finished in 1625 and exhibited in the western gallery of the Luxembourg Palace. The series on the life of Henry IV was intended to be displayed in the eastern gallery of the Luxembourg Palace. Rubens worked on the Life of Henry IV from 1628 to 1630. Rubens had commenced work on six when the Queen lost her power in 1630 and was forced into exile in 1631.

The Torre de la Parada was a hunting lodge of the Spanish king near Madrid. Rubens had received a commission from the Spanish king Philip IV of Spain to create a series of paintings to decorate the hunting lodge. A majority of the paintings depicted mythological scenes largely based on the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Rubens realized this important commission with the assistance of a large number of Antwerp painters such as Jacob Jordaens, Cornelis de Vos, Jan Cossiers, Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, Theodoor van Thulden, Jan Boeckhorst, Jan Baptist Borrekens, Peeter Symons, and Jacob Peter Gowy and others, who worked after Rubens' designs. Snayers was also involved in this project as a collaborator. Two large canvases showing King Philip IV at the hunt are attributed to him.