Pieter Valckx


Pieter Valckx was a Flemish sculptor mainly specialized in church furniture who was one of the last representatives of the Flemish Baroque.

Life

Valckx was the son of a painter and trained in Mechelen with the sculptors Theodoor Verhaegen and Jan-Baptist Mooriaen. He then continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and attended classes in the studio of Alexander Franciscus Schobbens. On his return to Mechelen in 1761 he became a master sculptor. In 1780 he became dean of the Guild of Saint Luke of Mechelen.
His pupils included Jan-Frans van Geel, who would have a brilliant career, en Jan Baptist Turner.

Work

The majority of Valckx's works consists of church furniture, which shows the influence of his teacher Theodoor Verhaegen in its naturalistic detail as well as of the school of Peter Paul Rubens.
He produced many pieces of church furnishings after designs by Verhaegen, such as the main altar in the Church of St John the Baptist and Evangelist in Mechelen and the pulpit of the St. Catherine Church in Mechelen.

Selected works

Mechelen