The Brueghels Weekendaanbieding

Pieter I Bruegel the Elder was born around 1525, probably nearBreda, and died in 1569 in Brussels. In Antwerp, he studied as anapprentice under Pieter Coeck, and later visited Italy tounderstand the reason for the growing influence of the Italianmasters, but his style remained rather different from theirs.Fascinated by people, this “painter of peasants” did not hesitateto paint scenes from the life of common people, as well asBiblical themes, the humour and restlessness of which stronglyinvoke Hieronymus Bosch.The contrast between the fineness of his canvases and theapparent simplicity of his subjects, characteristic of the greatworks of realism, testifies to the careful observation and greatprecision with which he created his pictures. He is credited withmaking a major contribution to the evolution of Dutch landscapepainting.Pieter the Younger, his older son, was fascinated with thegrotesque and the ugly, for which he was nicknamed “HellBrueghel.” He was the best copier of his father’s works and madehis career in Antwerp. He kept the letter “h” in his last name,as did other members of the family, in order to distinguishhimself from Pieter the Elder.Jan I, the younger son, also visited Italy before settling inAntwerp. Having worked with Rubens and created works differentfrom those of his father, since he concentrated on colour andlustre, becoming a master of still life. The delicacy ofexecution and the infinite care with which he painted his flowersearned him the nickname of “Velvet Brueghel.”This work covers a century of Flemish painting through thehistory of one family, emblematic of art history as a whole. Withthe help of more than two hundred reproductions of the threemasters and their contemporaries, the author provides anexhaustive overview of this family’s contribution to theevolution of the history of painting and to the marvel of theFlemish artistic tradition.