Lucas de Wael (3 March 1591 – 25 October 1661) was a Flemish painter, art dealer and merchant.

[1] In 1627 Cornelis became a member of the Accademia di San Luca, the prestigious association of artists in Rome which had very strict admission criteria.

[5] The workshop of the brothers de Wael in Genoa became the centre of the colony of Flemish artists who resided in or passed through the city.

The brothers provided a home, materials and tools, they assisted their compatriots with their local integration, passed on recommendations to clients and formulated competition rules.

This is the case of the marine painter Andries van Eertvelt who is documented in Genoa from 1628 to 1630, where he lived with de Wael and became his collaborator.

[1][6][7] Van Dyck painted a Portrait of the brothers de Wael (Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome) that was later engraved by Wenceslas Hollar.

The Flemish painter Jan Brueghel the Younger stayed with the brothers de Wael in Genoa from October until December 1622.

[8] He continued to play a major role in the business activities of his brother Cornelis who resided for the remainder of his life in Italy.