Bonaventura's marine paintings comprise the whole range of battle scenes, storms, shipwrecks, views of ships in rivers, coastal waters and harbours, night scenes etc. His earliest marine paintings are panoramic views. His intimate and accurate knowledge of ships may hint at an early life spent at sea. He paid particular attention to the detailed depiction of clouds and waves. Many of Peeters' paintings depict actual locations along the
North Sea and the river
Scheldt and these subjects form the bulk of his artistic production. He may have even travelled along the coast of
Scandinavia as is shown by his views of the port of
Archangel in Northern Russia one of which offers a scene of reindeers or elks pulling sledges. His other views of Scandinavian ports and scenes support the view that he may have travelled there. Bonaventura collaborated with other family members and artists in Antwerp. For instance, he collaborated with his brother Gillis on a painting of the
Battle of Kallo. As he was a gifted
staffage painter he was asked by other painters to paint the figures in their compositions. His collaboration with father and son
Pieter Neeffs the Elder and
the Younger, painters of church interiors, is documented in the signed examples in the
National Gallery in London and the
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. ==References==