Self-Portrait

Antoine Pierre Steyaert was the son of Bruges painter Antoine Ignace Steyaert, who later moved to Ghent. He mainly acquired a reputation as a painter and draughtsman of landscapes, and often participated in Ghent salons. This self-portrait shows the artist in his familiar environment, his workshop in Onderbergen (Ghent). The view to the right is to the street and the…

Antoine Pierre Steyaert was the son of Bruges painter Antoine Ignace Steyaert, who later moved to Ghent. He mainly acquired a reputation as a painter and draughtsman of landscapes, and often participated in Ghent salons. This self-portrait shows the artist in his familiar environment, his workshop in Onderbergen (Ghent). The view to the right is to the street and the former church of the Dominican abbey, which has now disappeared. The artist leans with his arm on an Italianising landscape, which is representative of his body of work. On the table are the attributes of the painter: a palette, rags, a paint box, a drawing ruler and brush. His father, who specialized in this particular genre, probably painted the moonlight landscape against the wall.