Lodewijk de Vadder

Lodewijk de Vadder (1605, Grimbergen – 1655, Brussels) was a Flemish Baroque landscape painter, draughtsman, engraver and tapestry designer.

He made cartoons principally for the Brussels weaving workshops of Jan Cordijs and Boudewijn van Beveren.

[1][4] De Vadder painted the landscapes with woods and rural areas around Brussels with a preference for sunken paths.

It has been demonstrated that he was responsible for a number of large-scale works that were formerly attributed to his younger contemporary and follower Jacques d'Arthois.

De Vadder, his pupil Ignatius van der Stock, his presumed pupil Lucas Achtschellinck and d'Arthois are usually referred to collectively as "The Sonian Forest Painters" as they often depicted the woods and sand banks in the Sonian Forest near Brussels.

He was likely responsible for the large trees that appear in some of the works in the never-finished cycle on the Life of Henry IV (1628–30) created by Rubens and Peter Snayers.