Bonaventura Peeters (Antwerp, 23 July 1614–Hoboken (Antwerp), 25 July 1652) was a Flemish Baroque painter who specialized in seascapes and shipwrecks, known as Zeekens (small seascapes).[1][2]
Peeters, brother of the seascape painters Jan Peeters I, Gillis Peeters, and Catharina Peeters,[3] learned to paint from his father, who became a master in Antwerp's guild of St. Luke in 1607–1608, and his earlier works are related to the tonal phase of Dutch landscape painting.[1] Later paintings, however, reflect the stronger colors of Italianate classicism.[1] This shift follows the general changes in artistic style at the time.[2] Like his brother Jan, dramatic shipwrecks with dark billowy clouds,[4] form a significant part of his oeuvre, as do serene ports and "portraits" of ships.[1][2] Also, while many of Peeters's paintings reflect actual locations, and he may have even travelled along the coast of Scandinavia, his many views of far-away Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ports reflect a growing taste for the exotic and are probably inspired from fantasy and from prints.[1][2] This tradition developed simultaneously in Flemish painting and in Dutch Golden Age painting, with many artists, including Peeters, working in both Antwerp and in the Dutch Republic.[1]