Portrait of Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Painting Reproductions 1 of 4

c.1525-1569

Flemish Northern Renaissance Painter

Pieter Bruegel the Elder or Brueghel (c.1525 - September 9, 1569) was a Netherlandish Renaissance painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (Genre Painting). He is nicknamed 'Peasant Bruegel' to distinguish him from other members of the Bruegel dynasty, but is also the one generally meant when the context does not make clear which "Bruegel" is being referred to. 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 residing in the village of Breugel. He was an apprentice of Pieter Coecke van Aelst, whose daughter Mayken he later married. He spent some time in France and Italy, and then went to Antwerp, where in 1551 he was accepted as a master in the painters' guild. He traveled to Italy soon after, and then returned to Antwerp before settling in Brussels permanently 10 years later. He died there on 9 September 1569. Other accounts give 1590 as the date of his death.

He was the father of Pieter Bruegel the Younger and Jan Bruegel the Elder. Both became painters, but as they were very young children when their father died, neither received any training from him. According to Carel van Mander, it is likely that they were instructed by their grandmother.

Style
In Bruegel's later years he painted in a simpler style than the Italianate art that prevailed in his time. The most obvious influence on his art is the older Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch, particularly in Bruegel's early "demonological" paintings such as The Triumph of Death and Dulle Griet (Mad Meg). It was in nature, however, that he found his greatest inspirations as he is identified as being a master of landscapes. It was in these landscapes that Bruegel created a story, with almost several scenes seemingly combined in one painting. Such works can be seen in The Fall of the Rebel Angels and the previously mentioned The Triumph of Death.

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, rather than as a backdrop to a religious allegory.

Attention to the life and manners of peasants was rare in the arts in Bruegel's time. His earthy, unsentimental but vivid depiction of the rituals of village life including agriculture, hunts, meals, festivals, dances, and games are unique windows on a vanished folk culture and a prime source of iconographic evidence about both physical and social aspects of 16th century life. For example, the painting Netherlandish Proverbs illustrates dozens of then-contemporary aphorisms, and Children's Games shows the variety of amusements enjoyed by young people. His winter landscapes of 1565 are taken as corroborative evidence of the severity of winters during the Little Ice Age.

Using abundant spirit and comic power, he created some of the early images of acute social protest in art history. Examples include paintings such as The Fight Between Carnival and Lent (a satire of the conflicts of the Reformation) and engravings like The Ass in the School and Strongboxes Battling Piggybanks. On his deathbed he reportedly ordered his wife to burn the most subversive of his drawings to protect his family from political persecution.

87 Bruegel the Elder Paintings

The Hunters in the Snow (Winter), 1565 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Hunters in the Snow (Winter) 1565

Oil Painting
$7166
Canvas Print
$54.38
SKU: BEP-461
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 117 x 162 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap, 1565 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap 1565

Oil Painting
$3589
Canvas Print
$91.27
SKU: BEP-462
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 52.2 x 69.5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Netherlandish Proverbs, 1559 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

Netherlandish Proverbs 1559

Oil Painting
$18160
Canvas Print
$53.97
SKU: BEP-463
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 117 x 163 cm
Gemaldegalerie, Berlin, Germany

Children's Games, c.1559/60 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

Children's Games c.1559/60

Oil Painting
$18075
Canvas Print
$91.29
SKU: BEP-464
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 118 x 161 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

The Fight Between Carnival and Lent, 1559 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Fight Between Carnival and Lent 1559

Oil Painting
$19891
Canvas Print
$54.80
SKU: BEP-465
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 118 x 164.5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

The Tower of Babel, 1563 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Tower of Babel 1563

Oil Painting
$20034
Canvas Print
$94.68
SKU: BEP-466
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 114 x 155 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

The Gloomy Day, 1565 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Gloomy Day 1565

Oil Painting
$6953
Canvas Print
$92.35
SKU: BEP-467
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 118 x 163 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

The Conversion of Saul, 1567 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Conversion of Saul 1567

Oil Painting
$7451
Canvas Print
$52.30
SKU: BEP-468
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 108 x 156 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

The Land of Cockaigne, 1567 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Land of Cockaigne 1567

Oil Painting
$3332
Canvas Print
$83.42
SKU: BEP-469
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 52 x 78 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany

Peasant Wedding, c.1568 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

Peasant Wedding c.1568

Oil Painting
$7822
Canvas Print
$53.14
SKU: BEP-470
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 114 x 164 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

The Peasant Dance, 1568 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Peasant Dance 1568

Oil Painting
$7780
Canvas Print
$87.35
SKU: BEP-471
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 114 x 164 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, c.1555/58 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus c.1555/58

Oil Painting
$6880
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BEP-472
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 73.5 x 112 cm
Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium

The Magpie on the Gallows, 1568 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Magpie on the Gallows 1568

Oil Painting
$3483
Canvas Print
$58.66
SKU: BEP-473
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 45.9 x 50.8 cm
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany

The Adoration of the Kings, 1564 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Adoration of the Kings 1564

Oil Painting
$13495
Canvas Print
$92.90
SKU: BEP-3910
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 112.1 x 83.9 cm
National Gallery, London, United Kingdom

The Wedding Dance, c.1566 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Wedding Dance c.1566

Oil Painting
$13932
Canvas Print
$95.75
SKU: BEP-6409
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 119.4 x 157.5 cm
Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan, USA

The Harvesters, 1565 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Harvesters 1565

Oil Painting
$6183
Canvas Print
$55.35
SKU: BEP-6410
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 119 x 162 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Combat between Carnival and Lent, n.d. by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

Combat between Carnival and Lent n.d.

Oil Painting
$4465
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BEP-6411
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 36.5 x 63.5 cm
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts, USA

The Three Soldiers, 1568 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Three Soldiers 1568

Oil Painting
$2346
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BEP-6412
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 20.3 x 17.8 cm
Frick Collection, New York, USA

The Unfaithful Shepherd, c.1567/69 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Unfaithful Shepherd c.1567/69

Oil Painting
$3107
Canvas Print
$53.70
SKU: BEP-6413
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 61.6 x 86.7 cm
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, USA

Wedding Dance, c.1567/69 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

Wedding Dance c.1567/69

Oil Painting
$6277
Canvas Print
$95.93
SKU: BEP-6414
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 80.3 x 106.4 cm
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, USA

The Census at Bethlehem, n.d. by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Census at Bethlehem n.d.

Oil Painting
$7496
Canvas Print
$53.83
SKU: BEP-6415
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 115.5 x 163.5 cm
Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium

The Kermesse of the Feast of St. George, n.d. by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

The Kermesse of the Feast of St. George n.d.

Oil Painting
$5931
Canvas Print
$68.29
SKU: BEP-6416
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

Landscape with the Flight into Egypt, 1563 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

Landscape with the Flight into Egypt 1563

Oil Painting
$4062
Canvas Print
$51.90
SKU: BEP-6417
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 37.1 x 55.6 cm
Courtauld Institute of Art, London, United Kingdom

Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery, 1565 by Bruegel the Elder | Painting Reproduction

Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery 1565

Oil Painting
$2489
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: BEP-6418
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Original Size: 24.1 x 34.4 cm
Courtauld Institute of Art, London, United Kingdom

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