View of Sint-Pieter across the Maas

Topographical elements always play a prominent role in the work of Joris van der Haagen. His View of Sint-Pieter across the Meuse is a geographically correct representation of the former village of Sint-Pieter with the ‘Huis de Torentjes’ in the background right. The work is not dated. The artist travelled a lot, but ended up spending much of his life in The Hague. In 1653, he became a master of the St Lucas Guild, but as early as 1556 he founded a new brotherhood, the Confrerie Pictura, along with a few other painters. Unlike the guild, this organisation was exclusively for painters, and it also aimed to stand up to the fierce competition from immigrants from the Southern Netherlands.