BRUEGEL FOR CHILDREN

FOREWORD

Pieter Bruegel is a famous Flemish painter who lived nearly 500 years ago.

This portrait of Bruegel is a print, created when an image etched into wood is then printed, like a stamp. However, given that it is not a photograph, we cannot be sure that this type of image actually represents reality and that Bruegel really did look like this portrait.

Bruegel lived in the 16th century in Antwerp and Brussels.

To reconstruct the life of someone who lived so long ago, we need to search in old manuscripts and study images which we still have today: paintings and etchings.
We do not know Bruegel's exact date of birth. Books listing the names of all the painters in Antwerp provide insight into the matter. Bruegel became a free master in 1551: that means he finished his training as a painter and could have his own workshop. He was probably between 20 and 25 years old.

Painters had to train in the workshops of other, more experienced painters. For several years, Bruegel was an apprentice under a master before he was able to carry out his profession himself. In this etching, we can see the master in the centre, painting a large canvas. In the foreground, young apprentices practice their drawing.

Bruegel learned his profession in the studio of artist Pieter Coecke van Aelst.

At the time, to perfect their training, artists from the Low Countries went on a long journey to Italy lasting several years. This let them discover works from the Antiquity, created more than 2,000 years earlier.

Antiquity is the time period after the Prehistory, when the Greek and Roman civilisations were developing. Then came the Middle Ages, which lasted 1,000 years. Then the Renaissance, Pieter Bruegel's time. During the Renaissance, artists and thinkers were trying to understand and copy art from Antiquity which was thought to be a glorious and refined period.

Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Bruegel's master, did the same journey around Italy. He was able to admire many works by Italian artists whose influence we can see in his own works. He was inspired not only by the style but also by the subject matter.

Bruegel also went on a long journey through Italy between 1553 and 1554. But, in contrast to his master, Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Bruegel was not really interested in the Italian style. He was much more interested in the landscapes, like the one in the background of this painting.

In this maritime landscape, we can see several magnificent boats. Bruegel was able to see boats like this in fine detail from the port of Antwerp where he lived.
At a time before aeroplanes, these big sailing ships allowed people to travel long distances and even go all the way around the world for the first time.

This was the Age of Discovery: people discovered new continents, new species of animals and exotic plants, and even unknown civilisations.

More of Bruegel's works were created on wooden panels with oil paints.

At the time, to make his paint and get the right colours, the painter had to mix linseed oil with pigments, like powdered colours. The pigments were made of stones and ground minerals (malachite, for example, gives you a green colour), plant extracts (the "madder" flower gives a red colour), earth (ochre gives yellow and brown colours) and even crushed insects (cochineal gives a crimson red colour).

But Bruegel was not just a painter, he was also a great drawer. He actually started his career as a drawer.

His drawings represented scenes from daily life, fantastic images with monsters or landscapes.

At the beginning of his career, Bruegel's drawings were inspired by a very famous artist who lived shortly before him: Hieronymus Bosch.
Bosch was a painter who created funny monsters and terrible devils which greatly inspired Bruegel.

500 years ago, superstitions and belief in magic played an important role in daily life: people believed in devils, witches and also in angels. It is not surprising, then, that we find such things in the artistic works of the time.

In this painting, called The Fall of the Rebel Angels, Bruegel depicts monsters in the midst of battle.

This story is taken from the Bible, the holy book of the Christian faith: angels, who have rebelled against God, are transformed into demons and banished into hell by the angels who have stayed faithful to God. In the centre, the chief of the angels's army is wearing gold armour. His name is Saint Michael. With his cape and shield he is the hero of the painting. We can also see a statue of Saint Michael on the tower of Brussels's Town Hall on the Grande Place.

Bruegel also enjoyed painting the reality of everyday life. We know that he used to go for walks in the villages. He got invited with friends to parties and weddings.

In this painting, which is a copy painted by his son Pieter Brueghel the Younger, you can see a bride and guests dancing to the bagpipes.

Bruegel had two sons, Pieter and Jan, and a daughter, Marie. His two sons would become painters like their father.

Unfortunately, Bruegel the Elder died when he was quite young. Pieter and Jan were only children. They would learn their craft from their grandmother, Mayken Verhulst.

Pieter Brueghel the Younger, known as "Hell Brueghel", mainly reproduced the works that made his father successful. For example, this is a copy of The Census at Bethlehem, which we have already looked at.

Jan Brueghel, known as "Velvet Brueghel", became famous for his paintings of flowers and his delicate and colourful landscapes.

Bruegel's paintings became very successful very quickly: other painters, such as David Teniers, would copy his works like this Village Feast.

Teniers, who was close to the Bruegel family, would later marry one of Bruegel's granddaughters.