Peter Van Boeckel was born in Antwerp and trained in the Flemish tradition of Cornelis de Vos and Frans Snyders. Van Boeckel is considered by art historians to belong to the French still life painters (French: Pieter van Boucle). Boeckel's mostly large-format paintings, often executed in cooperation with figure painters, are preserved in numerous museums.

From 1623 onwards Boeckel worked in Paris for the local aristocracy and upper-middle class, in whose estates many of his pictures are documented. Subsequently, he received commissions from the French King Louis XIV and was probably an assistant in the studios of Simon Vouet, Lubin Baugin, Louise Moillon, and Jacques Linard. Only few of his paintings carry hi...