Alexander Adriaenssen

[3] Another younger brother called Niclaes became a portrait painter and would in 1612 emigrate with his widowed mother to Haarlem.

As he had trained particularly in the art of painting coats of arms on parchment, he was registered as a water colour painter.

The battle painter Peter Snayers was the godfather of one and Isabella Brandt, Rubens' first wife, the godmother of another.

Adriaenssen was one of the artists working on the decorations for the Joyous Entry into Antwerp of the new governor of the Habsburg Netherlands Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635.

For this project, Adriaenssen painted the coats of arms of the 17 provinces on the triumphal arches in honour of the new governor.

[2][8] Alexander Adriaenssen was influenced in his still-life motifs by Frans Snyders and as a result his still lifes often included artichokes, poultry and live cats.

[9] Adriaenssen is known particularly for his renderings of raw fish, a common topic of Dutch still-life painters which he portrayed in more than 60 works, more than any other artist in 17th-century Antwerp.

His compositions are characterised by an asymmetrical diagonal layout—a triangle standing on end flanked by ellipses—with objects overlapping over multiple planes for greater depth.