A Flemish painter and engraver, David Teniers (the Younger) was born on December 15, 1610 in Antwerp. As the first son of painter David Teniers the Elder and Dymphna Wylde, he was involved with art by the age of sixteen when he began formally studying under his father. Developing specializations in religious themes, rustic and landscape scenes, and interior pieces, by 1633 he had become a master in the Antwerp Guild. Four years later, on July 4, 1637, he married Anna Bruegel, the daughter of Jan Brueghel the Elder; through this marriage, he grew close to the Brueghel family and their important connections, like fellow Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens. It was during this time that he engaged in artistic collaborations with his brother in law, Jan Brueghel the Younger; a prominent example of this is the 1642 Armorer’s Shop, in which Teniers painted the overall scene, including the armorer and his shop, and Brueghel painted the details of armor that lay near their creator. Throughout the 1640s and beyond, Teniers’ standing as a successful artist increased greatly: in 1644, he became the dean of the St. Luke Guild in Antwerp and in 1650 Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of the Spanish Netherlands named him court painter. In this position, he curated and maintained Wilhelm’s collection, expanding it to contain about 1,300 pieces, featuring works of famous Italian masters such as Raphael and Titian. Teniers also incorporated pieces by famed Northern artists, mixing works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Jan van Eyck into the collection. On May 11, 1656, his wife Anna died; within a year Teniers remarried, wedding Isabella de Fren with whom he had four children. He left his position as court painter in 1659. Four years later, in 1663, Teniers founded the Antwerp Academy to teach students Flemish styles of drawing and sculpture; as he grew older, he also worked as an art dealer and an organizer of auctions. He died on April 25, 1690 at age 80.

By Saffron Sener