Pieter Neefs the Younger

PIETER NEEFS THE YOUNG (Antwerp, Belgium, 1620-1675).
"Interior of cathedral, Antwerp".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Signed in the upper left corner.
Measurements: 50.5 x 65 cm; 86.5 x 111 x 5 cm (frame).

The main contribution of Pieter Neefs the Younger to the pictorial genre consisted in the representation of sacred interiors. He also produced numerous works such as the one presented here: magnificent Gothic church interiors with soft tonalities and sophisticated transitions between the spaces of light and shadow, in which the artist places special emphasis on spatial geometry - note the checkerboard pavements on the floor, which help to effectively construct the space in perspective. In his detailed works, numerous small figures fill the space, typical of Flemish church interior painting of the Baroque period, a genre in itself. They are figures worked in great detail, perfectly identifiable by their clothes and physiognomies. Most of them are gentlemen, although we also see some ladies and children, all dressed in 18th century Flemish fashion, and even dogs frolicking in such magnificent scenery.

A Flemish Baroque painter specialized in the painting of sacred architecture, mainly church interiors, Pieter Neefs the Younger was a descendant of Pieter Neefs the Elder, head of the family lineage of painters of the same surname. In his paintings he follows the style and subjects of his father and his brother Ludovicus Neefs. Like his father, Pieter Neefs the Younger collaborated with other painters who painted the figures that animated his compositions, mainly Frans Francken the Younger, with whom he collaborated in the Interior of the Antwerp Cathedral of the Prado Museum, but also with David Teniers the Younger, Bonaventura Peeters and others. Pieter Neefs the Younger's work is currently kept in the Prado Museum, among other important international art galleries.