Paris, the Louvre seen from the Pont-Neuf - Pieter Casteels II, known as the young (ca. 1650-1701)

Oil on canvas
Presented in a Flemish style frame in molded and blackened wood.
Dimensions with frame : 80 x 105 cm - The canvas : 57 x 82 cm

The Seine and its banks animated with characters. On the right the Louvre and on the left the Nesle tower, now disappeared, it was one of the corner towers of the enclosure of Philippe Auguste, built at the beginning of the 13th century. It is located at the present site of the west pavilion of the Mazarine library.

Pieter Casteels II, also known as the young man (ca. 1650-1701) was a Flemish painter who lived and worked in the city of Antwerp.
He came from a family of painters who were active during much of the 17th century.
Registered in the guild of Saint Luke between 1673-74 as an Antwerp Master, this painter specializes in imaginary port scenes where a quantity of characters animate the composition.
We find in his work recurring elements such as towers and certain architectures that allow us to easily recognize the artist.
Like many of his Flemish compatriots, he took part in the Saint-Germain fair (created by the abbots of Saint-Germain), a Mecca for the art and luxury trade where a large number of goldsmiths, sculptors, leatherworkers and painters came to offer their works. This displeased the French craftsmen who complained about the Flemish hegemony!
Paintings by Casteels can be found in the Louvre Museum, the Carnavalet Museum, the Besançon Museum, the Quimper Museum and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires.

He often paints in brown tones with grays, leaving an important place to the sky which is often cloudy with holes of blue. But the "show" side of his work is the characters that teem with life...

Related works:
*The Carnavalet Museum in Paris has in its collections a painting very similar to ours, but of smaller size

*Peter II Casteels, view of the Louvre and the tower of Nesle. Oil on canvas : 41,5 x 59 cm