BRUEGEL AND HIS TIME

FOREWORD

The art of Pieter Bruegel the Elder delightfully plunges today's viewers into every aspect of 16th-century Flanders. An astute observer of the world around him, Bruegel (born 1525) went beyond simple anecdotes and painted the events of his time with intelligence and humour. The painter started his artistic career in Antwerp, one of the world's biggest ports at the time. From there, he travelled around the Italy of Titian and Michelangelo.

Finally, several years later, he had contact with the Spanish court through the governors of Philip II, King of Spain, in Brussels where the religious quarrels which would soon make the Netherlands a wretched place were steadily gaining pace.

Bruegel started his apprenticeship in Pieter Coecke van Aelst's studio at the same time that Europe was torn apart by the Habsburg–Valois War (1542) between Charles V and Henry VIII, and Francis I of France. The war came to an end with a French victory in 1552, the year in which Bruegel became a free master, or master craftsman, at the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp.

As was customary, the artist then left for Italy to perfect his art. Shortly after his return, Charles V abdicated in the Throne Room, or Aula Magna, of his Brussels palace which has recently undergone archaeological excavations that can now be visited in the underground floors of the Place Royale.

In 1555, Charles V left Austria and Central Europe to his brother Ferdinand, while his son, Philip II, inherited the House of Spain and the Netherlands. Philip II thus became the new Duke of Burgundy and sovereign ruler of the Netherlands.

In 1559, Philip II returned to Spain and named his sister, Margaret of Parma, ruler of the Netherlands. He also gave wide-sweeping powers to the Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, a former counsellor of his father Charles V.

No less than four years later, in 1563, Bruegel arrived in Brussels, doubtless to be closer to the court and possible commissions. He might also have had another more personal reason for the move. Specialists have recently discovered Bruegel's engagement documents in the Antwerp Cathedral. This fact – unexpected from an artist who was later to marry in Brussels – gives credibility to Karel van Mander's allegation in his 'Schilder-Boeck': apparently it was the miniaturist Mayken Verhulst (Bruegel's future mother-in-law) who put pressure on the painter. As he was to marry this woman’s daughter, the painter was obliged to distance himself from a relationship he may have had in Antwerp. Bruegel thus moves to Brussels in 1563.

It was in 1563 in the Notre-Dame-de-la-Chapelle church, in the Marolles historical quarter (about 10 minutes' walk from the Palace of Coudenberg), that he married Mayken Coecke, the daughter of his former master Pieter Coecke van Aelst.

Following the birth of two sons, Pieter Brueghel II (known as "Hell Brueghel") and Jan Brueghel (known as "Velvet Brueghel"), Bruegel the Elder died in Brussels in 1569. The master was buried in the church where he was married. A painting by Rubens, featuring the dead man's patron saint and entitled Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter, was commissioned by his friend "Velvet" Brueghel, son of Bruegel the Elder. In 1676, Jan Brueghel's grandson, David Teniers III, restored his ancestor's tomb.

Lutheranism appeared in Germany under the reign of Charles V.

Luther, Zwingli and Calvin soon caused concern for the Catholic Church which had been further weakened by the creation of Henry VIII's Anglican Church in 1531. Throughout the 16th century, wars of religion tore Europe to pieces.
In response, in 1540, Ignatius of Loyola, an ardent defender of the Counter Revolution, founded the Society of Jesus. As successor of the "Catholic Kings", Charles V was not going to lie down. He had to defend the Church and fight the Lutheran Reformation. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) organised the Counter Reformation and supported the Inquisition.
In the Netherlands, strict edicts known as "placards" were put up around the whole country to fight heresy, in particular by imposing the governmental checking of publications and prints. Along with many others, the censorship affected the "Quatre Vents" publishing house owned by Hieronymus Cock, for whom Bruegel worked from the mid-1550s. The placards were followed by the creation of an index of censored books produced by the Catholic University of Leuven in 1546.

However, enforcement of placards under Charles V remained relatively lenient until the arrival of Philip II. Prior to his departure for Spain in 1559, Philip II cracked down on enforcement of the placards and attacked heretics, Anabaptists and Calvinists.The situation within the Netherlands worsened. While the absolutism of Charles V – considered a "natural" prince due to his birth in Ghent – was relatively accepted, the authority of Philip II was much less tolerated. Even more so when he left the country to establish himself in Spain.

The Age of Discovery in the 16th century saw a rise in trade. Antwerp, where Bruegel started his artistic career, was one of Europe's biggest ports at the time. The city's economic growth brought with it the emergence of traders.

Whilst in some of his works Bruegel depicted folklore still strongly rooted in the medieval world, he was also close to humanist centres which would soon spread Renaissance ideas from Italy to the rest of Europe.
Between the Church and the nobility – beholders of traditions from a world destined to disappear – a new social class was asserting itself, anxious to bring down the established order.

The underlying values of this new urban middle class were founded on technical progress and new discoveries. The same discoveries that would help them establish themselves and prosper thanks to booming business. Numerous pan-European trading firms were founded in the city of Antwerp, like the Della Faille family house.

However, the increasing expansion of big cities was not all positive. The 16th century saw another small increase in social inequality. Food shortages and epidemics did not fail to hit the Netherlands which had its fair share of cripples and beggars.

There was no stopping demographic expansion, however. The cities, like Bruegel's Towers of Babel, had to face an unprecedented boom.

The artistic influence of the Duchy of Burgundy imposed itself from the start of the 15th century. This was the golden era for the Flemish Primitives including Van Eyck, the Master of Flémalle, Van der Weyden and Bouts. Their paintings, but also the know-how of artisan upholsterer and Brabançon altarpieces spread throughout Europe and actively contributed to this influence.

This trend continues through the 16th century, helped by the emergence of humanist thought which spread throughout Europe. Erasmus published his The Praise of Folly in 1511 which, interestingly, he dedicated to Thomas More whose Utopia would be printed five years later in Leuven. The first half of the 16th century also saw Rabelais' intense Gargantua be published in 1534.

At the beginning of the 16th century, Antwerp was one of the most important places for printing, which contributed to the city's cultural boom. Christophe Plantin opened his Der Gulden Passer (Golden Compass) publishing house in 1549, a year after Hieronymus Cock had opened his Quatre Vents publishing house.

These publishing houses, famous across Europe, disseminated classical culture through translations in vernacular languages. However, they also published scientific studies like Mercator's Atlas (from 1538), Versalius's De humani corporis fabrica (1543) and Copernicus's famous work De revolutionibus orbium caelestium (1543). These publications are a clear demonstration of the 16th century outward-looking view towards scientific progress and the world.

These works also contain some of the most beautiful period etchings within their pages. Having replaced the illustrations of previous centuries, modern prints and etchings became more and more frequent in publications of the time.
This was, interestingly, Bruegel's main job at the beginning of his artistic career in Antwerp. These new techniques strongly contributed to the dissemination of trends and artistic styles, notably the artwork of Hieronymus Bosch which would influence generations of artists to come.