Wappers, Gustaf

Wappers, Gustaf (b Antwerp, 23 Aug. 1803; d Paris, 6 Dec. 1874).
Belgian painter, active mainly in Antwerp, where he became a professor at the Academy in 1833. He had enormous success with his elaborate historical costume pieces, catching the public imagination with patriotic themes that appealed to the Belgian people, who had just won their independence (Episode from the Belgian Revolution of 1830, 1834, Mus. Royaux, Brussels). However, such works have dated badly. In 1845 he was created a baron, and in 1853 he settled in Paris.