Tenierswandeling - Steenokkerzeel (Perk)

Painter David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) never really faded into oblivion. His oeuvre is relatively well studied and documented. But who still knows Teniers?

It was Prof. Emeritus Hans Vlieghe who published the biography 'David Teniers The Younger. A Biography - Pictura Nova XVI 214 pp., for Brepols, Turnhout published. In 1662 Cornelis de Bie had written a first book about the Antwerp-born painter David Teniers the Younger, who at the age of forty enjoyed great prestige as a court painter.

In 1647, governor Archduke Leopold William had asked him to come to Brussels. Commissioned by the governor, he copied the most important paintings from his collection, so that prints were made of them by the engraving technique, and which served as a "prestigious" promotional gift.

In his Antwerp period, Teniers de Jonge farmed well, which cannot be said of his father (also a painter), who went into debt and was allowed to go to prison for a while. Father Teniers put aside the painting pallet and made his entrance into the art trade.

At the beginning of his career, Teniers de Jonge was a genre painter like Adriaan Brouwer. Teniers was strong in the portrayal of peasant life with the drinking sprees, whether or not out of control.

He got in touch with Rubens (who witnessed David's wedding to Anna Brueghel - daughter of the velvet Brueghel - in 1637) which gave him access to the higher circles. After Anna Breughel died on 11 May 1656, buried in the church of Sint-Jacob-ten-Coudenberg in Brussels, Teniers remarried in the same year to Isabella de Fren.

In Perk he had a castle Drie Torens built, not far from the castle of Rubens in Elewijt, which he moved into around 1662.

An exhibition 'Teniers, never out of fashion' is currently running until 26 January 2016 at the Musée de Flandre in Cassel (F) More info: www.museedeflandre.lenord.fr

Departure & end: parking around Sint-Niklaaskerk, Tervuursesteenweg, Steenokkerzeel (Perk) - We chose the 5 km route. However, extensions of 7 km and 9 km are possible.
See: www.steenokkerzeel.be (Tourism)

Signposted: white hexagonal signs with red print

Public transport: stop Perk Kerk - lines 280, 681, 682, 225