Pieter Neefs (Antwerp, circa 1576 - 1656/1661) "Antwerp Cathedral" Oil on panel. Cradled. 100 x 120,5 cm. Pieter Neefs was the head of the family of painters with this surname and specialized in the representation of lit, nocturnal interiors, particularly of churches. He entered the painters' Guild of Saint Luke around 1609 or 1610. As the Prado states in their file on Neefs, “the soft tones and the sophisticated transitions between spaces of light and shadow are the main characteristics of his style”. The museum goes on to point out that "the exact date of his death is not known, but it must have been between 1656, the last year for which there is data on him, and 1661 when Cornelis de Bie speaks of him in the past tense in his 'Het gulden cabinet'” Neefs probably trained with Hendrick van Steenwijck. The painter and art theorist Vredeman de Vries and his studies on perspective had a great influence on the artist. He collaborated with important painters such as Frans Francken II, his son Frans Francken III, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Sebastian Vrancx, among others. Highlights among his preserved paintings, are the panel "Church of Flanders" or "The Mass" (inv. 1605) from 1618, currently exhibited in the Prado; “Viaticum inside a church” (inv. 1600) from 1636, signed together with Frans Francken II, also in the Prado; as well as another panel also signed by both painters, "Evening Mass in a Gothic Church" (inv. 640), in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Reference bibliography: - Museo del Prado (s.f.). “Neefs el Viejo, Pieter”. https://www.museodelprado.es/aprende/enciclopedia/voz/neefs-el-viejo-pieter/e80c4aed-d88c-4942-b7c1-41204d674c2f - Neefs I, P. (1618). “Church of Flanders” or “The Mass” [Oil on panel]. Museo del Prado. https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de-arte/iglesia-de-flandes-o-la-misa/8b309599-6fd5-4f8f-b08b-d5514fae1ab7 - Francken II, F.; Neefs I, P. (1636). “Viaticum inside a church” [Oil on panel]. Museo del Prado. https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de-arte/el-viatico-en-el-interior-de-una-iglesia/c5b32d46-c4fe-4c29-b51a-de6cfe1d1eae - Francken II, F.; Neefs I, P. (First half of the 17th century). “Evening Mass in a Gothic Church” [Oil on panel]. Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. www.khm.at/de/object/1270/