View source for Pierre-Joseph Witdoeck

[[Image:Witdoeck - La marchande de légumes.jpg|thumb|200px|The Vegetable Seller]]
[[File:Witdoeck-Rubens.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]] Meeting [[Francisco Collantes|Collantes]]]]
'''Pierre-Joseph Witdoeck''', also known as '''Petrus Josephus Witdoeck''' (4 January 1803, [[Antwerp]] – 16 October 1889, [[Tournai]]) was a Belgian painter and architect. Some sources give his year of death as 1840 or 1873.

== Biography ==
He was the son of Franciscus Donatus Witdoeck (1766–1834), a painter and professor of architecture at the [[Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp)|Royal Academy]], who gave him his first lessons. Later, he studied with [[Ferdinand de Braekeleer the Elder|Ferdinand de Braekeleer]] and [[Mattheus Ignatius van Bree|Mathieu-Ignace Van Brée]]. One of his ancestors, [[Hans Witdoeck]], was a student of [[Peter Paul Rubens]]. 

In 1824, he accompanied Colonel {{ill|Bernard Rottiers|nl}} on a scientific expedition sponsored by King [[William I of the Netherlands]]. They visited  Algeria, Greece, Egypt and India; returning in 1827 through Italy. He brought back numerous sketches of architecture and antiquities, notably from the island of [[Rhodes]]. They were published by Colonel Rottiers in 1830.

After that, he taught architecture, painting and design at the [[Jesuit]] college in [[Brugelette]], in the province of [[Province of Hainaut|Hainaut]]. This was followed by an appointment as the City Architect of [[Turnhout]], where he also founded and directed a design academy. 

He married Marie-Antoinette van Haesendonck and they had twelve children; several of whom became painters, but of no particular note. His daughter, Marie-Thérèse, married Colonel {{ill|Léon Braconnier|fr}}, a colonial administrator.

He was especially interested in religious and historical subjects. Many of his works are devoted to the history of the [[Spanish Netherlands]]. 

A large collection of his works may be seen at the [[Broel Museum]] in [[Courtrai]]. The {{ill|Église Sainte-Catherine de Lille|fr}} contains a notable representation of the [[Last Supper]], dating from 1843, which is integrated into the altar.

== Sources ==
* [http://balat.kikirpa.be/peintres/Detail_notice.php?id=6029 Dictionnaire des peintres belges], database [[BALaT]] @ the [[Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage]]
* Van Der Aa (A.-J), ''Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden'', Ed. J.J. Van Brederode, Haarlem,1877.

== External links ==
{{commonscat inline|Pierre Joseph Witdoeck|Pierre-Joseph Witdoeck}}

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[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:1889 deaths]]
[[Category:Belgian painters]]
[[Category:Belgian history painters]]
[[Category:Artists from Antwerp]]