Pieter Valckx

Pieter Valckx (1 March 1734, Mechelen – 3 May 1785, Mechelen) was a Flemish sculptor. He is mainly known for church furniture in the churches in Mechelen. He was one of the last representatives of the Flemish Baroque.

Life Valckx was the son of a painter and trained in Mechelen with the sculptors Theodoor Verhaegen and Jan Baptist Mooriaen. He then continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He also attended classes in the studio of Alexander Franciscus Schobbens. On his return to Mechelen in 1761 he became a master sculptor. In 1780 he became dean of the Guild of Saint Luke of Mechelen.

His pupils included Jan Frans van Geel, who had a brilliant career, en Jan Baptist Turner.

Work The majority of Valckx's works consists of church furniture, which shows the influence of his teacher Theodoor Verhaegen in its naturalistic detail as well as of the school of Peter Paul Rubens.

He produced many pieces of church furnishings after designs by Verhaegen, such as the main altar (1768) in the Church of St John the Baptist and Evangelist in Mechelen and the pulpit (1774) of the St. Catherine Church in Mechelen.