Peeter Snyers (Snijers) was born on 30th March 1681 in Antwerp as the son of the wealthy merchant Peeter Snijers and his wife Anna de Decker. He apprenticed to Alexander van Bredael in 1694/95. Apparently he was already a master in the Brussels Painters' Guild in 1705 before he was accepted as a master in the Antwerp Guild in 1707. In 1712/13 Snyers registered his nephew Peeter Jan Snijers as a pupil. He probably stayed in London temporarily, because according to Van den Branden he is said to have portrayed clergymen and aristocrats there. On 21st October 1726 he married Maria Catharina van der Boven in Antwerp and purchased a house on the Meir in 1739. Together with five other artists Snyers was active as a teacher at the Antwerp Academy on 17th August 1741. Because of an illness, Snyers made his will on 5th April 1752. He died on 4th May 1752 and was buried in the Dominican Church in Antwerp. Van den Branden reports that Snyers' art collection of 75 Dutch and Flemish paintings was auctioned on 22nd August of the year of his death for 3685 guilders. On 23rd August 1763 his artistic estate was also auctioned in Antwerp.
