Gerard Seghers was a Flemish painter, art collector and art dealer. After a period of study of study and residence in Rome, he returned to Flanders where he became one of the leading representatives of the Flemish Caravaggisti movement. In his later career he abandoned the Caravaggist style and genre motifs to become an important painter of large altarpieces for local churches.
Seghers is known mainly for his monumental genre paintings and large religious and allegorical works. He completed many altarpieces for churches in the Southern Netherlands. Most of his works are executed in a characteristic landscape (horizontal) format.
Gerard Seghers was born in Antwerp as the son of innkeeper Jan Seghers and his wife Ida de Neve and in 1608, only aged 17, he became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke. In 1611 Seghers joined the Society of the Aged Bachelors (Sodaliteit der Bejaarde Jongmans), a fraternity for bachelors established by the Jesuit order. He left for a trip to Italy before 15 February 1613. It is assumed that he worked there for the Antwerp art merchant Goetkint. At the same time Seghers used the experience for furthering his training as a painter and making copies after famous Italian paintings.