VERBRUGGHEN, Pieter I

Flemish sculptor, part of a family of sculptors. He was the father of the sculptors Pieter Verbrugghen II (1648-1691) and Hendrik Frans Verbrugghen.

He was apprenticed in 1625 to an ornamental sculptor, then worked under Erasmus Quellinus I. (c. 1584-1640). In 1641 he married his master’s daughter, Cornelia Quellinus, through his marriage he became the brother-in-law of the leading Antwerp sculptor Artus Quellinus I. He became master of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1641 and deacon in 1659.

He worked in the Flemish High Baroque style that he had learned while collaborating with his brother-in-law Artus Quellinus I. He completed the frontal decoration of the organ in the Antwerp Cathedral, based on a design made by Erasmus Quellinus II. He and his workshop made the oak confessionals in the St. Paul’s Church in Antwerp (1657-59). He made the oak organ case in that church in collaboration with Artus Quellinus I in 1654, and together with his son Pieter Verbrugghen II he executed the designs for the high altar in 1670.

The pulpit in the St. Gummarus Church in Lier is another of his known creations. The original design for the pulpit was made by Erasmus Quellinus I, which, after his death, was somewhat changed by his son Artus. Pieter Verbrugghen I executed the design.

Pieter Verbrugghen I was included in Cornelis de Bie’s book on artists ‘Het Gulden Cabinet’, published in 1662, and the entry was accompanied by his engraved portrait. His pupils included some of the leading representatives of the next generation of Flemish sculptors.