Pieter Snayers was born in Antwerp, where he was baptized on 24 November 1592. His father Lodewijk was the city messenger of Antwerp for Brussels. His mother was Catharina Gijsberts. His oldest brother, also called Lodewijk, became a successful merchant with an extensive international network of contacts. Another brother called Eduard would become a master painter in 1617 and was also a merchant. In 1611 Peter joined the Sodaliteit der Bejaarde Jongmans (Society of the Bachelors of Age), a fraternity for bachelors established in Antwerp by the Jesuit order. This Society's membership consisted principally of citizens from the elite and wealthy middle classes including artists and merchants. Through his membership of the Society, Peter was able to access an important network of contacts which would help boost his career. He was enrolled as a pupil of Sebastiaen Vrancx in Antwerp's Guild of St Luke in 1612. Sebastiaen Vrancx was a prominent battle and genre painter. In 1613, Snayers was registered as a master painter in the Guild.

 

In 1618, Snayers married Anna Schut, a cousin of the painter Cornelis Schut. Their first child Cornelis was baptized on 8 September 1620. Snayers achieved success as an artist. In Antwerp, the family lived in luxury and Snayers participated annually in the lavish banquet of the chamber of rhetoric, De Violieren. Snayers joined the painters' guild in Brussels on 16 June 1628. He became a citizen of Brussels at the same time. It is believed he had been working for the Archduke Albert (who died in 1621) while living in Antwerp. He had been appointed court painter and 'domesticq van 't Hof" (domestic of the court) by the Archduke. Snayers likely moved to Brussels in order to pursue opportunities at the court of the Archduchess Isabella, the widow of the Archduke and the governess of the Southern Netherlands.

 

After Isabella's death in 1633, Snayers became court painter to the next two governors, the Cardinal-Infant Ferdinand of Austria (1634–1641) and the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1647–1656). For them he painted scenes of victorious battles in the tradition of sixteenth-century tapestries. He painted portraits of the aristocracy in Brussels and large landscapes. He also worked for other eminent patrons and the open market. A highlight in his career was a commission for 22 battle paintings by general Ottavio Piccolomini.

 

While working in Brussels he regularly visited his hometown Antwerp but never returned to live there. He collaborated with painters in Antwerp such as Peter Paul Rubens on several occasions, including on the never-finished Life of Henry IV cycle (1628–30) and the Torre de la Parada series (c. 1637–1640). Both during his Antwerp and his Brussels periods, He mingled with the elite of his time. He climbed the social ladder and aspired to live a lifestyle similar to that of the aristocrats of his day. He was thus an example of the 17th century 'aristocratization' of successful citizens. His pupils included Guilliam van Schoor and Adam Frans van der Meulen. The latter became a leading battle painter and court painter to Louis XIV of France. Although there is no record of when Snayers died, it is believed he died in Brussels in 1667.

 

Snayers is mainly known as a painter of battles, military engagements, raids on villages and attacks on, or robberies of, convoys. He painted portraits of the aristocracy in Brussels and large landscapes.In addition, he created various hunting scenes and a few religious compositions. Finally, he completed a few compositions showing public processions of the guilds and civil militia. Stylistically, although he was much influenced by Vrancx, his coloring was more subdued than that of his teacher, reflecting contemporary trends in Flemish and Dutch painting.

 

Paintings by Snayers are not especially rare, but his drawings are exceedingly so, and the present work stands out as a very fine example of his talents as a draughtsman. Stylistically, it may compared to a sheet depicting a cavalry battle, kept in the print room at Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp (inv. no. PK.OT.00199). Although the present drawing shares its loose handling of the washes and its excellent penmanship with the MPM drawing, its high degree of finish could indicate it was intended as a picture drawing: an independent work of art to be sold or gifted to a connaisseur.