Pieter Neefs I (Antwerp 1568/88-1656/61)

An architectural painter from Antwerp, Neefs became a member of the city's Guild of Saint Luke in 1609. He spent the early part of his career under the influence of Hendrick van Steenwijck the Elder and his son Hendrick van Steenwijck the Younger, whose works Neefs has been known to copy, for example in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden. In his Golden Cabinet of the noble art of painting of 1661, biographer Cornelis de Bie celebrated Neefs for his depiction of churches, praising in particular his representations of pillars, doors, portals and altars. He wrote that looking at his paintings produced the sensation of being in a church (C. de Bie, Golden Cabinet, Antwerp, 1661, p. 155). The staffage is possibly by Frans Francken II (Antwerp 1581-1642) or someone in his direct circle.