Pieter van Lint is an important representative of the classical-baroque movement in Flanders and especially in Antwerp. One of his most prominent altarpieces can be admired in the Bollaert Chapel of the Saint-James Church in Antwerp, representing Saints Peter and Paul (1655). He is well known for his paintings on copper, often with mythological subjects. Two such works are on loan to the Keizerskapel from the collection of Werner Wieland. One represents the Triumph of Jupiter and Cupido (copper, 84 x 114 cm), the other Hercules and Omphale (copper, 69,5 x 87,6 cm).

Pieter van Lint was an apprentice of Artus Wolffort (1581-1641) and one of his best-known pupils is Godfried Maes (1649-1700). He often painted on copper and many of his paintings found their way to Spain and to the Spanish colonies through the Antwerp art dealers Guilliam Forchondt and Matthijs Musson. Pieter van Lint got his ‘masters degree’ in 1632. He visited both Paris and Rome, the latter clearly influencing his painting style. Both paintings presented in the Keizerskapel are typical examples of the so-called classical-baroque movement that became prominent in Antwerp after Rubens’s death in 1640. With Erasmus II Quellinus (1607-1678), Van Lint’s contemporary, as leading example. The paintings can be dated about 1640/50. A second version (copper, 104 x 131 cm) of the Triumph of Jupiter and Cupido is in the Prado in Madrid. A legion of Olympic Gods are on view: Mars, Venus, Neptun, Pluto, Apollo, Jupiter. With Amor/Cupido, Hercules and Omphale, Pyramus and Thysbe. And lastly, Narcissus is depicted as a final reference to the power of love.

Also see Ineke Wolf, Twee schilderijen van Peter van Lint over Liefde en Vruchtbaarheid, Oud Holland 2016, volume 129-1, p. 17-30.

Text by Jean-Pierre de Bruyn.