Pieter Bruegel 4.0

The greatest Flemish artist of 16th century. This realistic and landscape painter, gives us a gleam of life in the Low Country 400 years ago. His paintings are full of details & messages and so interesting to look at. Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c1525/30-69), nicknamed ‘Peasant Bruegel’, was the most important satirist in the Netherlands after Bosch and one of the greatest landscape painters. After he became Master in the Antwerp Guild in 1551, he went to France and Italy, travelling as far south as Sicily. He was impressed by the landscape of Italy but not so on the Italian paintings. From his painting, he gave us insights to the peasant life and their relationship with nature of 16C in the Low Countries. He was an educated man, well able to associate with his distinguished clients and sophisticated enough disguised his political opinions as a biblical story.

1. First created. Feb 2010. London. Jerry Daperro. Version 4.0. 26 Feb 2022.
Pieter Bruegel the
Elder
Epic of Every day Life
View of Naples c1558

2. ThegreatestFlemishartistof
16C.Yetinhisowntimehewas
consideredasanoldfashion
“peasantpainter”.
c1525 -1569
Bruegel the Elder (c1525-1569)
Hegivesusagleamoflifeinthe
LowCountry400yearsago.His
paintingsarefullofdetails&
messages.PieterBruegelthe
Elderwasthemostimportant
satiristintheNetherlandsafter
Boschandoneofthegreatest
landscapepainters.

3. Son. Pieter II
Son. Jan I
Grandson. Jan II
Bruegel Dynasty (c1525-1678)
TheBruegelDynastyspannedovera
century.Itconsolidatedthesecular
approachtopaintinginNorthernEurope.

4. Strife of Lent c1550-60

5. Fall of Icarus c1555
Icarusfell
intothe
sea.

6. Gulf of Naples 1558-62
BruegelwasinItalyin1551-1553andhealsovisitedNaples.

7. Flemish Proverbs 1559

8. He can barely reach from one load to the
other. (unable to live within his means.)
To run his head again a stone wall. (To
pursue the impossible recklessly.)
The hen-feeder . (To count to
chicken before they are hatched.)
One winds on the distaff what the other
spins (to spread malicious gossip).
The pull to get the longest end.
(tug-of-war to seek an advantage.)
Spilt porridge (The
damage is done)
Over a hundred proverbs have been colourfully identified, describing
the absurdity of human behaviour and their sinfulness.
Like his paintings ‘The Children’s Games’ and ‘The Triumph of
Death’, it is a narrative bird eyes views of the world populated with
tiny figures.
Flemish Proverbs (Detail) 1559

9. Flight into Egypt 1561

10. Fall of Rebel Angels 1562

11. Adoration of the Kings in the Snow 1563-67

12. Adoration of the Kings in the Snow 1563-67
Details of previous painting.

13. Early Spring -Brown
Spring -Presumably lost
Early Summer -Green
High Summer -Yellow Autumn -Gold Ochre Winter -White
In Bruegel‘s time, a year had six seasons, according to some customs. Surprisingly,
none of the landscape in these paintings depict his native land, the ‘Low Countries’,
which is flat without mountains.
Seasons of the year. 1565

14. Early Spring 1565

15. The ‘Seasons of the Year’ was Bruegel
largest commission.
Cuttingwoodtorepairhomes,in
contrasttothedangerousstormysea.
Early Spring (Detail) 1565

16. Early Spring (Detail) 1565

17. Summer 1565

18. Bruegel’slandscape,alwaysfillswith
people.Hechosetodepictsecular
themes,inkeepingwithhiscultural
humanistapproach.
Summer Details 1565

19. Summer Details 1565

20. Harvesters. 1565

21. Harvesters Details 1565

22. Harvesters Details 1565

23. Autumn 1565

24. Autumn (Details) 1565

25. Autumn (Details) 1565

26. WinterLandscapewithaBird-Trap.1565.Oilonpanel.37x55.5cm.PieterBruegel
theElder.Flemish.MuseumofAncientArt,Brussels.
Bird Trap 1565

27. Bird Trap. Detail. 1565

28. Conversion of Saul 1567

29. Peasant Dance c1568

30. Peasant Wedding c1568

31. The simplicity of his style is deceptive. On detail examination of his well-known
painting Peasant Wedding, we can see the skill and care he put into painting the
praying man at the end of the table.
A rich man at the wedding
talking to the monk.
Bride
Rich man
Piper
Finger licking good
Peasant Wedding (Detail) c1568

32. Thanks to Bruegel’s painting we can travel back in time to witness a wedding meal of
the ordinary people. Bruegel changed his style in his later painting, with larger
portraits of people.
Peasant Wedding (Detail) c1568

33. Peasant Wedding (Detail) c1568

34. The Blind Leading the Blind c1568

35. Enterprise of Vanity
Bruegelinkeepingwithhis
culturedhumanistbackground,
likedtoemphasizemankind’s
folliesandfoolishness.
Buildings that
reach the sky
Following the leader
Dare to reach the sun

36. The Census at Bethlehem. 1566
The Massacre of the Innocents. c1566
InthepaintingsbelowBruegelencapsulatedtheresentmentofthe
Spanishruleinhisnativecountry.Eventuallytherisingnationalism
boiledover.Itfinallyeruptedin1567,twoyearsafterBruegel’sdeath,
leadingtotheEightyYearsWar.UsingBiblicalstories,Bruegel
disguisedhiscriticism.Thesettingofthepaintingswerecontemporary,
depictingthesceneofaFlemishvillage.
Political Allusions

37. The Massacre of the Innocents c1566

38. The Census at Bethlehem 1566

39. Painting relative sizes

40. Bruegellivedinaperiodofchangeandturmoil.Itwasanageof
economicexpansion,profoundsocialtransformations,religious
crisesandpoliticalupheavals.
In1567,PhilipIIofSpainsenttheDukeofAlbawithhisarmyto
Brussels,whichwaspartoftheNetherlandsprovincesbelongsto
Spain.Thecommander’sorderweretoforciblyconvertthe
Protestants,withthousandofNetherlanderssentencedtodeath.
PhilipIIofSpainwasastaunchCatholic-“Iwouldrathersacrifice
thelives100,000peoplethanletupinmypersecutionofthe
heretics.”
Philip II of Spain
In1557Spainbecamethefirstnationinhistorytodeclarebankruptcy.PhilipIIhad
todeclarefourstatebankruptciesin1557,1560,1575and1596.Thecountry’s
wealthwasdrainedinyearsofwars.TheNetherlandswasrequiredtopaidhalfof
thetaxesforthevastSpanishHapsburgEmpire.Bruegel’s‘TheCensusof
Bethlehem’wasaveiledreferencetothisburden.WhilstthebrutalityoftheDukeof
Alba’srulewasrecordedbyhis‘TheMassacreoftheInnocents’.
NetherlandsrebelledthatthemarkedthebeginningoftheEightyYearsWarending
withthedivisionofCatholicBelgiumfromtheProtestantHolland.
History of his Time

41. Brueghel is firmly within the Flemish painting tradition influenced
by Bosch and Patinier.
HerejectedtheItalianstyle,withitsidealisedhumanforms&
nudes,thestrongreligiousthemes,theallegoricalsettingsor
thearistocraticportraits.Butinstead,hishumanisharshly
realistic,fable,andevenincorrigible.Hepreferredtopaintthe
blindsandthecripples.Hepaintedtheordinarypeopleintheir
dailylife,withinthegenretraditionoftheFlemishpainting.
Inhislaterpaintings,likethe‘Peasant
Wedding’andthe‘PeasantDance’,
peoplearenolongertinyfiguresinabird
eye'sviewsettingsbutasrecognisable
individualsinanenclosedsettings.
HewasdeeplyimpressedbytheAlpine
scenerywithitsmajesticpeaksandvalley
incontrasttohiscountry.Healsoliked
paintingshipsandport.
Bosch
Patiner
Artistic Style

42. Big Fish and Little Fish 1556

43. See the above paintings in Pieter Bruegel in Details
slideshow
The End
Music from the ballet Sylvia (1876), act III, DivertissmentNo 20
(Pizzicati). Composed by Leo Delibes (1836-1891).

44. Dutch Painters