Pieter Neefs the Elder (c. 1578 - after 1656 before 1661),

• Was a Flemish painter.
• He specialized in architectural interiors of churches.
• Active in Antwerp, he was influenced by the works of the Dutch architectural painters Hendrik van Steenwijk the Elder and the Younger.
• His father was Aart Neefs, a cloth merchant and innkeeper.
• Pieter's mother was Margaretha Verspreet.
• In 1610 Pieter became a free master of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke.
• He established himself as a specialist of church interiors.
• He became so successful with his architectural paintings that he was able to get leading Antwerp painters to paint the staffage in his works.
• Pieter Neefs married Maria Louterbeens on 30 April 1612.
• The couple had five children of whom the second and third-born Lodewijk and Pieter became painters.
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