Bruegel: Legacy and Ingenuity

In Antwerp, landscapes became a pictorial theme of their own from the beginning of the 16th century.

Bruegel adds his own touch of genius to the emerging tradition of Antwerp landscapes. In this painting by Bruegel, we find the plunging view and successive planes, each with its own shade.

From the 16th century, the representation of the human figure in the Low Countries is influenced by Italian artists such as Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci. At the turn of the 16th century, this painting represented the beginning of the Flemish art Renaissance.

Bruegel's characters do not have the same Italian mannerisms which were in fashion in the North. His figures are generous in size, expressive and sometimes even caricatural. Their dynamism would later inspire numerous painters.

Composition, perspective, graphism, expressive silhouettes, and narrative story-telling are brilliantly used by the Bruegel to produce effective, beautiful and touching images. He invents new ways of representing the world around him by telling stories in history.