Flemish painter

Antwerp circa 1625 – in or before 1697

 

His first name is sometimes spelt Pauwel.

 

Painter of battle scenes, history scenes and of landscapes.

 

He was the son of a further unknown Antwerp painter. Pauwels joined the Painters’ Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp in the year 1649/50.

The contemporary Antwerp battle scene painter Alexander Casteels (circa 1635 – 1681) was probably a family member; there are obvious stylistic similarities between both painters.

 

Pauwels was clearly influenced by two earlier Flemish specialists of battle scene paintings: Pieter Snayers (1592 – after 1666) and above all Pieter Meulener (1602 – 1654).

 

He is best known for his large canvasses with numerous figures representing heroic battle scenes: either biblical, Greek or Roman subjects or contemporary clashes between Christians and Turks. He painted several versions of the Polish king John Sobieski III beating the Turks, he did so in 1673 and in 1683 (the famous Battle of Vienna).

 

His mythological paintings are much rarer, but very sought after as they regularly represent very baroque, crowded triumphs of Poseidon and Amphitrite.

 

Pauwels Casteels provided pictures for one of Antwerp’s best-known international art dealers, Guilliam Forchondt I (1608 – 1678). The company of Forchondt (also known as Forchoudt), himself also a painter, exported a lot of artwork to Central Europe (especially to Vienna) and to a lesser extent to Spain, Nueva Espana (Mexico) and Portugal. Battle scenes by both Pauwels and Alexander Casteels seem to have been popular in Central and Eastern Europe.