Peeter van der Borcht

Peeter van der Borcht was an artist active across the mid-to-late sixteenth century, with documented production spanning 1549 through 1595. His professional output largely consisted of prints and book illustrations, often focusing on genre scenes that captured rustic life, social gatherings, and human activities.

Much of the artist’s extant body of work explores themes of celebrations and rural folly. Specific examples represented in museum collections include the compositions The Village Fair and Peasant Fair, alongside detailed depictions of domestic ritual such as Peasant Wedding and The Large Wedding Feast. His thematic range also included satirical or specialized subjects, such as the print The Fat Kitchen, from the series Monkeys.

A documented total of eleven Peeter van der Borcht prints and one book are preserved in institutional holdings, establishing the artist’s significance during the latter half of the 16th century. These museum-quality works are held in prestigious venues, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. As these historical works are often now in the public domain, many high-quality prints derived from his original engravings are accessible for scholarly review and appreciation.