Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (c. 1558)

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c. 1525 – 9 September 1569) was a Dutch or Flemish Renaissance painter and printmaker. He is known for his landscapes and peasant scenes. He is nicknamed 'Peasant Bruegel' to distinguish him from other members of the Brueghel family. But he is the most famous of them and therefore in most of the cases when someone speaks of "Brueghel" he thinks of him. From 1559 he dropped the 'h' from his name and started signing his paintings as Bruegel.

Life

There are records that he was born in Breda, Netherlands, but it is uncertain whether the Dutch town of Breda or the Belgian town of Bree, called Breda in Latin, is meant. He was the son of a peasant living in the village of Breughel.

Style

In Bruegel's later years he painted in a simpler style than the Italian art in his time. The most obvious influence on his art is the older Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch.

Themes

Bruegel specialized in landscapes populated by peasants. He is often credited as being the first Western painter to paint landscapes for their own sake.

He showed the rituals of village life—including agriculture, hunts, meals, festivals, dances, and games. These show the folk culture of 16th century life.

Some of his Paintings

The Tower of Babel, 1563, oil on board
The Peasant Wedding, 1568, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Naval Battle in the Gulf of Naples, 1560, Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome
The Fall of the Rebel Angels, 1562, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
The "Little" Tower of Babel, c. 1563, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam
The Procession to Calvary, 1564, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Massacre of the Innocents, c. 1565, versions Royal Collection, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and London art market (2007)
Children's Games, 1560, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
The Land of Cockaigne/Land Of Milk And Honey, 1567, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
The Peasant Dance, 1568, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
The Beggars, 1568, Louvre, Paris
A detail of Children's Games (1560)

Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap, 1565, Bruxelles, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van Belgie, inv. 8724
The Peasant and the Nest Robber, 1568, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
The Three Soldiers, 1568, Frick Collection, New York City
Conversion Of Paul, 1567, Kunsthistorishes Museum, Vienna
The Storm at Sea, an unfinished work, probably Bruegel's last painting.

Pieter Brueghel The Elder Media

The Blind Leading the Blind, 1568
Netherlandish Proverbs, 1559, oil on oak wood
Children's Games, 1560
The Peasant Wedding, 1566–69, oil on panel. A late peasant subject, with a more monumental treatment.
Landscape with the Flight into Egypt, 1563, 37.1 × 55.6 cm (14.6 × 21.9 in), owned by Cardinal Granvelle
The Hunters in the Snow, 1565, oil on wood

Other websites

Biography at the Web Gallery of Art
Pieter Bruegel the Elder at Olga's Gallery
Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the "A World History of Art" Archived 2008-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
Complete list of paintings. Includes all of the 100 proverbs from the painting, with explanation (in French). Archived 2020-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
www.all-art.org/early_renaissance About Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Timken Museum of Art's "Parable of the Sower" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder Archived 2010-04-21 at the Wayback Machine