Pieter Aertsen

Pieter Aertsen (1507-1573), called "Long Peter" on account of his height, Dutch historical painter, was born and died in Amsterdam.

When a youth he distinguished himself by painting homely scenes, in which he reproduced articles of furniture, cooking utensils, etc., with marvellous fidelity, but he afterwards cultivated historical painting. Several of his best works, altar-pieces in various churches, were destroyed in the religious wars of the Netherlands.

An excellent specimen of his style on a small scale, a picture of the crucifixion, may be seen in the Antwerp Museum. Aertszen was a member of the Academy of St Luke, in whose books he is entered as "Langhe Peter, schilder" (Long Peter, painter). Three of his sons attained to some note as painters.

The paintings are the excellent portrayal of the events and scenes that we see around us. The painters are the best cameras of the world. They reproduce many different types of pictures. They even draw imaginary pictures that do not exist in this world. We tend to use both thinned oil paints and dense oil paints. Masterpieces can be dyed more than once, but each time it may be different from the existing paintings.h

Sitemap
Painter sitemap
Techniques sitemap
Materials sitemap