The Antwerp Apprentice The story begins in Antwerp, where a young Jan Pieters—later known in England as John Peeters—absorbed the traditions of the Flemish masters. He studied under the history painter Eeckhout, a foundation that would define his technical precision. By 1685, at the age of eighteen, he arrived in England, carrying nothing but a recommendation to Sir Godfrey Kneller. This move marked the beginning of a forty-two-year ca…