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Bruegel, Pieter (1525-1569)
Pieter Bruegel (also spelled "Breughel"), born in Holland, is considered one of the last great painters of the
Flemish Renaissance. He is know for his landscapes, and has been credited with being the
first to make landscaping the subject of his painting. Bruegel's landscapes quickly
developed into highly detailed paintings that would show all aspects of Flemish folk life,
and display the vitality and nature of peasants. He is also known for his more dark and
cynical paintings, such as The Triumph of Death and The Fall of Icarus.
"... In
Breughel's paintings, no matter how huge a slice of the world he
shows, human activities remain the dominant theme. Like
many of his contemporaries, Breughel traveled to Italy, where he
seems to have spent almost two years, going as far south as
Sicily. Unlike other artists, however, Breughel chose not
to incorporate classical elements into his paintings. The
impact of his Italian experiences emerges in his work most
frequently in the Italian or Alpine landscape features, which he
recorded in numerous drawings during his journey."
- Gardner's
Art Through The Ages,
11th edition, Vol. II, p. 711
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Hunters in the Snow (Winter Scene)
"Hunters in the Snow is one of five surviving paintings of a
series of six illustrating seasonal changes in the year.
It shows human figures and landscape locked in winter cold.
Breughel's production of this painting in 1565 coincided
with a particularly severe winter. The weary hunters
return with their hounds, women build fires, skaters skim
the frozen pond, the town and its church huddle in their
mantle of snow, and beyond this typically Netherlandic
winter scene lies a bit of Alpine landscape. Aside
from this trace of fantasy, however, the artist rendered the
landscape in an optically accurate manner. It develops
smoothly from foreground to background and draws viewers
diagonally into its depths. Breughel's consummate
skill in using line and shape, and his subtlety in tonal
harmony make this one of the great landscape paintings and
an occidental counterpart of the masterworks of
classical Chinese
landscape."
- Gardner's
Art Through The Ages,
11th edition, Vol. II, p. 711
The Triumph of Death - by Pieter Breughel the Elder
"Towards the end of his life, Breughel's commentary on the
human condition took on an increasingly bitter edge.
The Netherlands, racked by religious conflict, became the
seat of cruel atrocities, made even more terrible by
Catholic Spain's attempts to extinguish the Reformation."
- Gardner's
Art Through The Ages,
11th edition, Vol. II, p. 713
The Triumph of Death, copy made
by Jan Breughel
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