5 Sep 1569 in Brussels died a great artist Pieter Bruegel. He left behind not only the world-renowned paintings, but also two sons (Peter and John) who also was destined to become outstanding painters. However, their father — Pieter Brueghel-the senior, has remained the most famous artist with this name. One of his paintings we have already talked here about the other will be discussed below.
Becoming an artist
Art historians are still arguing about the place and exact date of birth of Pieter Bruegel. Apparently, he was born between 1525 and 1530 near Breda in the North Brabant province of the modern Netherlands.
“The fall of Icarus”, 1558 the
In the childhood Peter was in Antwerp, where he housed the workshop of the famous artist Pieter coecke van Aelst, which at one time was considered the court painter of Charles V. Then the majority of artists, including Brueghel the teacher, identified themselves to the novelists. However, Bruegel from the beginning went his own way, without succumbing to fashion. This is evidenced by his early work “the Fall of Icarus”, in which he is a romantic and beautiful legend shows clumsy immersed body on a completely domestic background. In General, the main characters of the paintings of Breughel — representatives of the lower classes, the ordinary people of the village.
“The battle of carnival and Lent,” 1559
Travel and relocation
In 1550 died teacher Brueghel, then with a little work in the print shop, he decided on a Grand tour of Europe. Bruegel traveled to France, Switzerland and Italy, viewing Roman monuments and Mediterranean harbour.
“Naval battle in the Harbor of Naples, 1562 year
After a long journey Bruegel married the daughter of his teacher and along with her went to Brussels, where he passed the most productive part of his life. In Brussels, Bruegel writes “the Way to Calvary”, “the Fall of the rebel angels”, “the massacre of the innocents” and a number of other famous paintings.
“The way to Calvary, 1564
“The fall of the rebel angels, 1562 year
“Massacre of the innocents”, 1566 year
Researchers of creativity Brueghel note that he never took up the custom portraits and has never painted naked people. The only portrait, which, most likely, performed Bruegel is an image of a poor peasant with coarse facial features.
“Head of a peasant woman”, 1563
The village artist
Despite the rich life experience of Bruegel, the number of places he managed to visit, almost three-quarters of his paintings are devoted to rural life and nature. On his canvases often even impossible to distinguish between those individual characters, sometimes they just blend in with the surrounding nature. Most likely, this is why Peter Brueghel the elder later dubbed Peter “peasant”.
“Hunters in the snow”, 1565 year
“The harvest”, 1565 year
“Land of cockaigne”, 1567
About 40 years Bruegel, who lived in Brussels, I saw a real atrocity: the army of the Spanish Duke of Alba began to literally cut all the heretics in the Netherlands. Several thousand Netherlanders were sentenced to death, the other several years of living in constant fear of another brutal reprisals from the Spaniards. Paintings by Bruegel at this time, are openly depressed character.
“The parable of the blind”, 1568
“The magpie on the gallows”, 1568
He died on 5 September 1569, his body was buried in the Brussels Church Notre Dame de La Chapelle. In the works of Breughel, unfortunately, did not get more than a third of his paintings are kept in the Vienna Museum of art history.
