page_title: Peeter Symons
section_title: Work
hierarchical_section_title: Peeter Symons / Work
caption_attribution_description: Español: Céfalo y Procris, óleo sobre lienzo, 174 x 204 cm, Madrid, Museo del Prado
context_page_description: Peeter Symons or Peeter Simons was a Flemish painter only known for his collaboration with Rubens in 1636 on the commission from the Spanish king Philip IV of Spain to create a series of mythological paintings to decorate the Torre de la Parada, a hunting lodge of the king near Madrid.
context_section_description: The work of Peeter Symons is virtually unknown. An inventory of 1644 mentions a painting of a fish by Symons, which could be an indication that the artist painted still lifes.
  Symons collaborated with Rubens in the mid 1630s.  Rubens received in 1636 a commission from the Spanish king Philip IV of Spain to create a series of mythological paintings to decorate the Torre de la Parada, a hunting lodge of the king near Madrid.  The mythological scenes depicted in the series were largely based on the Metamorphoses of Ovid.  Rubens realized this important commission with the assistance of a large number of Antwerp painters such as Jacob Jordaens, Cornelis de Vos, Jan Cossiers, Peter Snayers, Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, Theodoor van Thulden, Jan Boeckhorst, Jacob Peter Gowy, Jan Baptist Borrekens and others, who worked after Rubens' designs.  Peeter Symons was also involved in this project as a collaborator. Two of the canvases which Symons created after designs by Rubens for this project are recorded. One representing Cephalus and Procris (Museo del Prado, Madrid) is based on a sketch by Rubens also in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. This painting shows his formal dependence on Rubens, although Symons never achieved in his works the freshness of the master, since his figures are much more rigid and lack the dramatic tension of Rubens. A second canvas painted by Symons representing Neptune and a nymph for the Torre de la Parada is documented but now considered lost.
caption: Cephalus and Procris
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