Angellis [Angélis; Angelles; Angillis] Pieter
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(b Dunkirk, 5 Nov 1685; d Rennes, 1734). Flemish painter, active in
England. The fact that his style is heavily dependent on the work of
David Teniers the younger suggests that Angellis may have been
apprenticed to him. According to Walpole, the artist arrived in
London in 1712, but in 1725 Vertue, who knew him, wrote in his
notebook that Angellis was 40 years old, had been in England for
nine years and had lived for a time before 1712 in Düsseldorf, where
he had studied the collection of John William von Wittelsbach, the
Elector Palatine. Van Gool, who had met Angellis in London,
confirmed the visit to Düsseldorf. Angellis was first listed as a
Master in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in 1715–16, but in 1716 he
was in London. The years 1719–28 were the most active of his career
and his market scenes, conversation pieces (e.g. c. 1715–20; London,
Tate) and still-lifes with vegetables proved popular in English
aristocratic circles. The style of these works reflects his origins,
combining the narrative vigour of Teniers the younger with an
elegant refinement derived from Watteau, resulting, as Walpole said,
in ‘more grace than the former, [and] more nature than the latter’.
Queen Anne (reg 1702–14) commissioned a commemorative portrait of
the Knights of the Garter from Angellis (London, N.P.G.) and in 1722
he contributed three canvases to a series depicting the life of
Charles I, intended for engraving: Charles I Seized by Joyce at
Holmby House, Charles I’s Escape from Hampton Court and the Trial of
Charles I (Ireland, priv. col.); the
engravings were published in 1728.
