Portrait bust of Théodore Schaepkens by Belgian sculptor Willem Geefs

In July 1826, Lipkens instructed his doctor to inform the Board of his deteriorating health. He died the following month, to be replaced in his tutoring role by the most advanced student. One year previously, Théodore Schaepkens had won the royal medal in the ‘drawing from plaster model’ category and, a year later, he was a prizewinner in the 'drawing from nature’ category. Théodore was 16 years old at the time and, for a few months, taught his 11-year-old brother Alexander, before moving to Antwerp to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts under Matthieu van Bree. There, he befriended the painter Gustaaf Wappers and the sculptor Willem Geefs, who made his bust portrait. After one year studying in Paris, he took up history painting, which had become popular in the Southern Netherlands. By then, the Stadsteekenschool was being run by the aforementioned city architect and painter Matthieu Hermans.