Pieter Verbrugghen the Elder

Pieter Verbrugghen I (alternative spellings: Pieter Verbruggen I, Peter van der Brugghen I, Pieter van der Brugghen I, Peter Verbrugghen I, Peeter Verbrugghen I) (1615, Antwerp – 1686, Antwerp) was a Flemish sculptor from the Baroque.

Life He was apprenticed in 1625 as a 'beeltsnijder' (sculptor) to Simon de Neef, who was an 'antijcsnijder' (ornamental sculptor). Later he worked under Erasmus Quellinus I and in 1641 he married his master's daughter, Cornelia Quellinus. Through his marriage he became the brother in law of the leading Antwerp sculptor Artus Quellinus the Elder. He became master of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1641 and in 1659 he became the deacon of the Guild. His first wife died in 1662, and he remarried in 1665, to Elisabeth Lemmens. Angel holding an hourglass, detail of a confessional in the St. Paul's Church in Antwerp

Work He worked in the Flemish High Baroque style that he had learned while collaborating with his brother-in-law Artus Quellinus the Elder. His works are rather static and thick-set. He and his workshop made the oak confessionals in the St. Paul's Church in Antwerp (between 1658 and 1660). He made the oak organ case in that church in collaboration with Artus Quellinus the Elder in 1654, and together with his son Pieter Verbrugghen II he executed the designs for the high altar in 1670. The original design for the pulpit was made by Erasmus Quellinus I, which, after his death, was somewhat changed by his son Artus. Pieter Verbrugghen I executed the design.