Where to See Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was born circa 1525-1530, possibly in Breugel or Antwerp. He died in Brussels in 1569. His final resting place is Notre-Dame de la Chapelle / Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Kapellekerk. Bruegel's paintings are held in many major European collections. The Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria, owns several important works. These include two versions of *The Tower of Babel*, *The Battle Between Carnival and Lent*, *The Peasant Wedding*, and *The Peasant Dance*. The museum has also displayed *Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap*, *The Massacre of the Innocents*, *The Magpie on the Gallows*, *The Birdnester*, and the drawing *The Beekeepers*. The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, holds *Portrait of Pieter Bruegel the Elder*, an engraving by Johannes Wierix from 1572.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder is known for paintings such as *Hunters in the Snow*, *The Peasant Dance*, and *The Harvesters*. His works also include *The Fall of Icarus*, *Children's Games*, *The Fall of the Rebel Angels*, *Two Monkeys*, *The Tower of Babel*, *The Adoration of the Kings*, *The Land of Cockaigne*, *The Wedding Banquet*, and *The Parable of the Blind*.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder employed painting materials that were entirely in keeping with established standards of the day. His painting method has been characterised as deliberately slow, in order to achieve a high degree of detail. He was known to take many months to finish some commissions. It is possible that he worked on several paintings at once, allowing the works to dry at various stages and then returning to them, in order to maintain a crisp appearance by avoiding the risk of applying paint on top of a layer that was still wet. When painting a vista, Brueghel would first lay down solid areas of colour to differentiate space, such as light green in the foreground and blue hues for the far distance, as well as for the expanses of sky. In most background areas, the application of colour occurred in loosely applied fine dabs, in no way covering the light-coloured preparation. The surfaces are thereby made to visually vibrate.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder's paintings influenced a number of later artists. Roelandt Savery, who spent some years in Prague, responded to Brueghel's peasant paintings with his Peasant Meal (1608). Savery assimilated many of Brueghel's motifs; however, Savery altered the focus, reverting to a disapproval of coarse behaviour. Where Brueghel's villagers have ambiguous conduct, Savery's peasants are objects of derision. Lucas van Valckenborch was another painter who responded to Brueghel's pictures after the artist's death. Valckenborch, who became court painter to Maximilian II of Habsburg in 1579, devoted most of his efforts to painting, and he responded to Brueghel's prototypes. His paintings focus on interactions between villagers and visitors from the court. In a painting in Saint Petersburg, Valckenborch seems to have represented Brueghel's friend, Abraham Ortelius, among the group.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (born circa 1528, died 1569) trained in Antwerp under Pieter Coecke van Aelst, painter to Charles V. Brueghel's artistic style and approach owe a debt to Hieronymus Bosch; it was Bosch's pupil who encouraged Brueghel to study with Coecke van Aelst. Although Brueghel became Coecke van Aelst's apprentice, he resisted the Italianate style of his instructor. Instead, Brueghel's technique and artistic ideas can be traced to Bosch. Brueghel travelled to Italy, arriving in Rome in 1553; however, he was little affected by Italian art. He returned to Flanders by 1554. Brueghel married Coecke van Aelst's daughter in 1563, and moved to Brussels, where he lived until his death. His most significant artistic growth occurred during his final six years. He produced potent and original works, especially in his later period, when he focused on the life around him. The humour and satire of Bosch appear again in Brueghel's work.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder produced many admired paintings and prints. It is difficult to single out one work as his most famous. However, several paintings are particularly well known. *The Netherlandish Proverbs* (1559) is celebrated for its depiction of over one hundred literal illustrations of Dutch proverbs. *The Tower of Babel* (1563) is famous for its detailed depiction of the biblical tower. Brueghel made two painted versions; the more famous is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Brueghel's series of paintings depicting the seasons are also very popular. These include *Hunters in the Snow* (1565), also known as *The Return of the Hunters*, and *The Harvesters* (1565). Both are part of a series of six works, of which five survive, commissioned by Nicolaes Jongelinck, a wealthy Antwerp art collector. These paintings offer detailed scenes of peasant life and the changing seasons. They are appreciated for their close observation and representation of 16th-century rural life.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (born circa 1525, died 1569) was a Northern Renaissance painter and printmaker. His style synthesised influences. He is considered distinct from his contemporaries due to his artistic vocabulary. Brueghel's art combined old and new elements. His work was new in that it rejected the Romanism of the period. He conceived of individuals as types, and he nearly eliminated religious elements from his genre paintings. He unified genre and the depiction of the natural world. His style also incorporated older elements, such as the patterned construction associated with Mannerism. Brueghel's early work shows the influence of Hieronymus Bosch. Between 1555 and 1563, Brueghel designed more than 40 engravings, taking advantage of the popularity of Bosch’s style. Like Bosch, Brueghel created scenes of peasant life with a moralising intent. However, Brueghel's works lacked the fantasy elements of Bosch, and instead emphasised the vulgar through witty compositions.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (born between 1520 and 1530; died 1569) was a painter and printmaker active in the Low Countries. He is known for his sweeping compositions, use of a high vantage point, and his sympathetic, honest depictions of peasant life. He combined these elements with his own style of story-telling. Brueghel also painted religious and historical scenes, setting them in his own time. Around 1551, Brueghel became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp. Between 1551 and 1553, he travelled through France, Switzerland, and Italy. During his travels, he made drawings of the Alps and learned to execute miniature paintings. From 1555 to 1563, Brueghel designed engravings for the Print Shop of the Four Winds. In 1563, he moved to Brussels and began working primarily as a painter. In 1565, he was commissioned to create a series of paintings called The Months.