Pieter Bruegel the Elder

By: Phyllis Tameilau

Background

Pieter Bruegel was born in about 1525 and died in 1569. His family’s last name was first spelled as Brueghel with and “h” when his family wanted to drop the “h” and leave it as Bruegel. He was born in Breda sometime between 1525 to 1530 and settled in Antwerp where he became a master at painting. Antwerp is in the center of the Netherlands and is commercial city. He is the first of a Flemish family and is known to be Pieter Bruegel the Elder to distinguish him from his older son. He spent most of his life in Antwerp where he was an apprentice to Coeke van Aelst who was a leading Antwerp artist, sculptor, architect, and designer of tapestry and stained glass. Most of his paintings expressed his poverty life, and he is nicknamed as “Peasant Bruegel” because of his paintings. He married Coeke’s daughter, Mayken in 1563 and had two sons named Pieter Bruegel the Younger and Jan Bruegel the Elder.

List of Accomplishments

· Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

· Peasant Wedding

· The Fight between Carnival and Lent

· The Flemish Proverbs

· Children’s Games

· The Land of Cockaigne

· The Parable of the Blind

· The Peasant and the Bird nester

· The Magpie on the Gallows

Pieter’s work contributed to the renaissance because he showed a type of style that holds narrative and had a meaning; some of his paintings told a story. He also showed different styles from peasant life to Biblical scenes to mythical paintings. He has influenced us today because he shows that we can express our feelings through art and has showed us reality. He has showed reality because he has showed many people what people go through during their daily lives with art. He shows us potential and determination because we can learn with his example that with hard work you can come a long way and he even became one of the most famous artists of Flemish and has greatly impacted the Renaissance era.

Work Cited

· http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/

Pioch, Nicolas “Bruegel, Pieter the Elder” August 16, 2002

The WebMuseum

· http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/brue/hd_brue.htm

Wisse, Jacob. "Pieter Bruegel the Elder (ca. 1525/30–1569)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/brue/hd_brue.htm (October 2002)

Book

· Grolier Incorporated, “Bruegel, “Pieter, the Elder (1525?-1569” The New Book of Knowledge Printed and manufactured in U.S.A. 1998

Article- By Lola B. Gellman, City University of New York