Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Netherlandish painter was revolutionary in what he chose to immortalize on canvas and his artistic approach

Selected works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Belgium, (ca. 1525–1569)

In today’s artist highlight slideshow, we see the work of 16th century Netherlandish painter and printmaker Pieter Bruegel, typically referred to as Pieter Bruegel, the Elder (to differentiate from his same-named son, also a talented and respected painter). Bruegel the Elder’s skill in landscape painting and his large, lively canvasses focusing on the activities of the common man rather than noble figures delighted his contemporaries and earned him esteem as the greatest Netherlandish painter of the 16th century.

To fully appreciate Bruegel’s oeuvre, it helps to understand events at the time he was active. The 16th century was a time of great change in Western Europe. The Protestant Reformation was gaining momentum throughout Europe and in some countries (Germany, Switzerland and England) Protestantism was enforced by the state while Catholics were punished, executed or expelled. Conversely, the Low Countries, an area which consists of modern-day Netherlands and Belgium, were under the rule of Philip II of Spain, a devout Catholic and self-proclaimed protector of the Counter-Reformation, under which similar punitive measures were taken against Protestants, such as the Spanish Inquisition (which nobody expected). While Protestantism had not yet taken hold fully in the Low Countries, the populace chafed at their Spanish overlords, the taxation (which they considered excessive) and its imposition of Catholicism as the state religion. This conflict escalated in the middle of the 16th century in what is known as the Iconoclastic Fury: objecting to what they believed to be the religious idolatry of Catholicism, Protestant Calvinists throughout Western Europe stormed Catholic churches and other public places, destroying religious decoration, church fittings, statues and other Catholic artwork. These protests were particularly fierce in the Low Countries in what is known as Beeldenstorm—riots which began in 1566 and convulsed the entire area with destruction, looting and in many cases disorderly drunkenness.

At the same time, a new wave of humanist ideals, championed by northern Renaissance thinkers such as Erasmus of Rotterdam, was taking hold. Erasmus famously employed satire in his critique of the social, religious and poltical issues of his time. Satire would find its way into the visual arts too, and necessarily this would include wider depictions of ordinary people as subjects and participants within these critiques. Additionally, with increased trade, a merchant middle-class was growing and expanding their influence as well as their wealth. Low Country merchants in particular rode this wave of abundance since they were well-situated within Europen trading routes.

The Money Changer and His Wife by Quentin Matsys (1514), a satirical critique of merchant-class focus on the monetary over the spiritual

Although events of his early life are not precisely known, relying on later-documented events in his life scholars speculate that Pieter Bruegel, the Elder was born into these tumultuous times at about 1525 in or near the duchy of Brabant, a central region within the Low Countries. He settled in Antwerp and in 1551 joined the Painters’ Guild. Soon after, as was the practice of many artists of the time, he left for study in Italy, probably by way of France through the Alps. Art historians note that Bruegel’s landscape paintings, while fanciful depictions rather than real places, often include distant snow-capped craggy mountain ranges and other features he would have seen on his travels. By 1555 he had returned to Antwerp and began a partnership with the publishing house of Hieronymus Cock to create and sell a series of landscape prints. Cock’s prints, less expensive than paintings and reproducable in larger quantities thanks to innovations in divisions of labor, were in high demand by the growing middle-class and landscapes appealed to a populace looking for something other than religious subjects. This shift in subject matter and target market marked a distinct break from the overtly religious artwork commissioned by the aristocracy and the church that had occupied the efforts of artists in the preceding several centuries. Soon after, Cock commissioned Bruegel to create a series of satirical, moralizing prints in the style of Hieronymus Bosch. Perhaps as part of Cock’s effort to boolster sales, Bruegel’s “Big Fish Eat Little Fish” print was even attributed to Bosch, although the platen was clearly created from Bruegel’s signed original prepatory drawing. In any event, the prints were popular sellers and helped to elevate Bruegel’s profile, generating new customers for his canvasses. His 1559 painting “Netherlandish Proverbs,” which depicts over 100 proverbs within the setting of a Flemish village, uses the same stylistic conventions that he often employed in his prints, portraying moralizing subjects into a visual, vernacular language within a framwork teeming with activity. It was a popular commission—at least sixteen copies of the painting are known.

In 1563, Pieter Bruegel, the Elder married Mayken Coecke, the daughter of his former instructor Pieter Coecke van Aelst, and moved to Brussels. By this point, he had largely shifted away from prints to painting, although he never abandoned the form entirely. The majority of Brugel’s pieces show the common folk engaged in everyday activities, subjects that would have attracted wealthy merchant art collectors, as well as the scholars and the humanists that formed his social circle. This departure from a single- or primary-subject focus was amazingly innovative for his time, and particularly when depicted on large canvassas. Even his pieces of religious and traditional mythology were approached from a unique perspective employing an elevated, wide angle which incorporated multiple subjects given nearly-equal prominance. Frequently the landscape was as much a focus as the actors within the story. For example, in his painting¹ “Landscape with the fall of Icarus” the plunging figure of Icarus can be seen in the lower right corner of the frame, but the eye is drawn first to the farmers and to the beautifully rendered green sea and mountain-framed landscape. The suprising treatment of the subject, minimizing the central figure of the myth, leaves viewers to contimplate the meaning. Perhaps it is about the hubris of a foolish act, quick forgotten as life goes on for the rest of us. Or perhaps it is about human indifference, a reference to the Flemish saying “No plough stops for a dying man.” Some have suggested that the prominance of the landscape over the mythological figure is a reflection of the sentiments of Northern Renissance thinking: nature and landscape are lifted to importance while the old way of elevating mythlogy shall no longer be followed. Much is, of course, open to interpretation by the viewer, although I won’t leave you hanging— a thorough, more-scholarly and detailed analysis is here: Artchive: Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Brugel the Elder died in 1659. He was somewhere around 40 years old. Bruegel left a remarkable portfolio considering his brief life, the majority of his paintings largely held in private collections up until the 19th century. Because his prints were up-until-recently more well-known than his paintings, historically Bruegel was viewed by critics as an artist of comic peasant scenes. However, historians now recognize that the stylistic conventions of bird’s-eye perspective and landscapes separated from iconography with a focus on a panoramic treatment of the natural world were largely his invention. His style would influence future generations, initially carried forward by his two sons, also talented painters. His vision of landscape treatments was highly influential well into the 17th century and had an effect on nearly all Flemish painters, including Peter Paul Rubens.

Certainly, much of the pleasure of viewing Bruegel’s works are discovering the little details with which he filled his canvasses. The works often contain subtle satirical or symbolic images. Since a gif slideshow is not the best way to linger on the works (nor are the limited color space and resolution ideal), I’ve included links to each piece where you can take your time and zoom in to uncover all the treasures.

1. Hunters in the Snow (Winter) - Kunsthistorisches Museum (German)

2. The People's Census at Bethelehem - Wikimedia Commons

3. Parable of the Sower - Wikipedia

4. The Tower of Babel - Kunsthistorisches Museum

5. The Magpie on the Gallows - Wikipedia

6. Children's Games - Google Arts & Culture

7. The Fall of the Rebel Angels - Art in Context

8. Big Fish Eat Little Fish - Google Arts & Culture

9. The Dutch Proverbs - Google Arts & Culture

10. The Battle About Money - The Met

11. The Triumph of Death - Museo Del Prado

12. Gloomy Day - Wikimedia Commons

13. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus - Wikimedia Commons

14. Adoration of the Magi in a Winter Landscape - Wikimedia Commons

A good and not-too-long video about Bruegel’s impact and how the time in which he lived influenced his work is here:

To learn more, start with the links below.

The Met: "Pieter Bruegel the Elder (ca. 1525–1569)" by Jacob Wisse, 10/2022

Google Arts & Culture: A Closer Look At The Art Of Pieter Bruegel The Elder; Museum Guide

Wikipedia: Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Pieter the Elder Bruegel Biography In Details

1. There is scholarly debate as to whether the existing masterpiece hanging in Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique was painted by Bruegel himself or is a reproduction of his original design originally carried out in tempura on wood, perhaps done by one of his sons. But in any event, the composition is of Bruegel’s design.