Petrus van Schendel (1806–1870) became one of the 19th century’s great poets of artificial light, famous for candlelit and lamplit scenes that make night feel vivid, bustling, and intimate. Born in the Netherlands, he trained at the Royal Academy in Antwerp, where his strong grasp of perspective and spatial construction laid the groundwork for his later nocturnes. He worked across Dutch cities before settling in Brussels in 1845, building a career that balanced portraiture, genre scenes, and landscapes with a distinctive specialty: markets, streets, and interiors organized around a single glowing flame. Van Schendel’s technique is defined by disciplined chiaroscuro—warm highlights on faces, metal, and fabric set against deep shadow—turning ordinary commerce and conversation into theatrical moments. Nicknamed “Monsieur Chandelle” (“Mr. Candle”), he treated light as both subject and structure, reportedly staging models in controlled darkened spaces to study illumination effects. Beyond painting, he published instructional books on perspective and expression and maintained a famously curious mind, even pursuing mechanical inventions. By the time of his death in 1870, he was widely recognized for transforming candlelight into a signature language of modern urban mood and human closeness.