AELST III, PIETER VAN

(D'Alost III, Pierre)

(ca. 1495-ca. 1560)

   Pieter van Aelst III was born in Brussels about 1495. He received his training in the workshop of his father, Pieter van Aelst II, who initiated him in the business. He succeeded his grandfather as tapestry purveyor to Charles V, a position he assumed probably on the death of the latter. About 1550, van Aelst obtained a commission from Sigismund-Augustus, the king of Poland, to complete a large and lavish work, which, when finished, comprised a series of 18 tapestries depicting various episodes in the book of Genesis. Except for these, no others of his numerous works are known.

   About 1560, the large workshop that had been started by his grandfather Pieter van Aelst I, in 1502, was sold by family heirs to the celebrated Brussels weaver Willem de Pannemaker. The sale date indicates the likely date of death of van Aelst.