Frans Snyders

Frans Snyders , 1579-1657, most celebrated Flemish still-life and animal painter, b. Antwerp. He studied with Bruegel, the younger, and Hendrik van Balen but was principally influenced by Rubens. Snyders often collaborated with Rubens and Jordaens, sometimes painting the animals in their pictures, while they in turn did figures for some of his paintings of the hunt. The early work of Snyders was largely still life, but he is best known for his spirited animal compositions, primarily hunting scenes and struggles between wild animals. He painted many works for Philip IV of Spain, a number of which are in the Prado. His paintings are fresh and luminous in color and strong in composition. His best-known works include Stag Hunt (The Hague); Hippopotamus Hunt (Rijks Mus.); Lioness Attacking a Boar; Dogs in the Kitchen (Louvre); Lions Chasing a Deer (Metropolitan Mus.); and Boar Hunt (Mus. of Fine Arts, Boston).

Snyders, Frans (bapt. Antwerp, 11 Nov. 1579; d Antwerp, 19 Aug. 1657). Flemish painter of animals, hunting scenes, and still-life. He was a pupil of Pieter Brueghel the Younger and perhaps of Hendrick van Balen. In 1602 he became a master in the Antwerp guild, and in 1608–9 he visited Italy (mainly Rome and Milan). Back in Antwerp, he became a close friend of Rubens, also recently returned from Italy (he was eventually executor of Rubens's will). Snyders often collaborated with Rubens; he painted animals, fruits, and flowers in Rubens's pictures, and Rubens painted figures in his. He later had the same kind of reciprocal arrangement with Jordaens, and also collaborated with van Dyck, Janssen, and Cornelis de Vos (his brother-in-law). Snyders's independent works confirm him as the finest animal painter of his time; the best are his scenes of hunts and fighting wild animals, which have a tremendous sense of Baroque vitality. Some of his pictures are very large; his Boar Hunt (MFA, Boston), for example, is more than 5 m (16 ft) wide.

Snyders, Frans (1579–1657). Flemish painter of animals, hunting scenes, and still life, active mainly in his native Antwerp. He was a pupil of Pieter Brueghel the Younger and travelled in Italy 1608–9. Back in Antwerp, he became a close friend of Rubens, also recently returned from Italy (he was eventually executor of Rubens's will). Snyders often collaborated with Rubens; he painted animals, fruits, and flowers in Rubens's pictures, and Rubens painted figures in his. He later had the same kind of reciprocal arrangement with Jordaens, and also collaborated with van Dyck, Janssen, and Cornelis de Vos (his brother-in-law). Snyders's independent works show he was the finest animal painter of his time; the best are his scenes of fighting wild animals and hunts, which have a tremendous sense of Baroque vitality.