Introduction
Peter Ykens (1648 – 1695), was a Flemish painter mainly known for his history paintings and portraits.
Life
He was born in Antwerp as the son of Johannes Ykens and his second wife Barbara Brekevelt. He was the brother of the flower painter Catherine Ykens II. He was trained by his father. According to the French biographer Jean-Baptiste Descamps Ykens intended, like so many of his compatriots, to travel to Rome, but then got married and abandoned the idea. Descamps further writes that Ykens tried to make up for this failure to visit Italy by studying prints after Italian works, Italian antiques and plaster reliefs to hone his skills.
His pupils were Karel Breydel, Erasmus Causse, Gaspaer Janssens, Jan Thomas van Kessel, and Jacob Leyssens.
His sons Johan and Frans were painters of still lifes of flowers and fruit.
He died in Antwerp.
Work
He painted portraits and Christian religious representations and made a large number of altarpieces and paintings for local churches and palaces.
As was the custom in Antwerp at the time, he often worked together with other painters who were specialists in particular genres. He is known to have collaborated with Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen and Jan Pauwel Gillemans the Younger, specialists in flower still lives, and Ferdinand van Kessel, a landscape artist. He painted the staffage for these artists.
He provided designs for the tapestry workshops. He is believed to have collaborated with Pieter Spierinckx (1635–1711) on the design for Orpheus Playing the Lyre to Hades and Persephone (a scene from Orpheus and Eurydice or The Metamorphoses) which was woven around 1685 in the Wauters workshop in Antwerp