Interior of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Antwerp (Archduke Leopold Wilhelm received by the clergy)

Peeters employed chiaroscuro to model the cathedral’s vaulted architecture, directing light from high windows to illuminate the altar and central figures while leaving the side aisles in shadow. The precise rendering of stone, stained glass, and fabric textures reflects the Flemish Baroque emphasis on realism. His use of atmospheric perspective enhances the sense of vast, receding space, guiding the viewer’s gaze toward the ceremonial core.

The painting entered the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, likely through Habsburg patronage networks. Its survival through centuries suggests it was valued as a record of religious ceremony and noble presence in Antwerp, a key city in the Southern Netherlands. No significant alterations or restorations are documented, preserving its original tonal balance and detail.

Created during the Spanish Habsburg rule of the Southern Netherlands, the painting reflects the Counter-Reformation’s emphasis on visual grandeur in worship. Cathedrals served as both spiritual and political stages, and depictions like this reinforced the Church’s authority. Peeters’s shift from maritime to sacred subjects may indicate changing commissions or the influence of local demand for devotional imagery.

While Peeters’s marine works remain more widely studied, this interior stands as a significant example of Flemish Baroque ecclesiastical painting. It contributes to the understanding of how artists adapted their skills to new subjects under religious and political pressures. The work remains a quiet but precise document of 17th-century liturgical life in one of Europe’s most important cathedral spaces.