Pieter Bruegel

Description

The recent rediscovery in Spain of Pieter Bruegel the ElderGCOs lost painting, The Wine of Saint MartinGCOs Day, has created even more interest in this much-loved artist, who was one of the NetherlandsGCO two great masters of satire and fantasy, along with Hieronymus Bosch. Although these two artists never met each otherGCoBruegel was born around 1525, a decade after BoschGCOs deathGConumerous features link them; indeed, Bruegel painted several demon-infested hellscapes directly inspired by the older master, and he was known in Antwerp as a GCGBPsecond Bosch.GC But Bruegel is most famous for his peasant scenes, often humorous and packed with anecdote, and for his landscapes, which poignantly evoke NatureGCOs changing seasons. His legacy to Netherlandish art was the enduring popularity of both these genres, as well as the artistic dynasty he founded, beginning with his painter sons Pieter the Younger and Jan Brueghel.Critics have often remarked how BruegelGCOs art, so keenly observed and richly detailed, seems to preserve a world in miniature. In this new monograph, Larry Silver, an eminent historian of Northern Renaissance art, serves as our guide to that world.
He leads us expertly through BruegelGCOs complex and fascinating iconography, allowing us to see his paintings and drawings from the same perspective as his sixteenth-century countrymen. Silver situates Bruegel within the visual culture of his timeGCoexploring, for example, his relationship with the print publisher Hieronymus CockGCoand within the broader context of Netherlandish history. All of BruegelGCOs surviving paintings are reproduced here, with many full-page details, as well as all of his prints and representative works by his contemporaries and followers.This volume on Bruegel complements SilverGCOs widely praised monograph on Hieronymus Bosch, which was published by Abbeville Press in 2006. These two books are the most authoritative and best-illustrated studies of their respective subjects, and together they present us with a panorama of Netherlandish artGCOs emergence into the distinctive form of the Northern Renaissance.

Author description

Larry Silver, a historian of Northern Renaissance art, received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and is currently Farquhar Professor of Art History at the University of Pennsylvania. His other books include Hieronymus Bosch (Abbeville Press), the general survey Art in History, and Landscapes and Peasant Scenes: The Rise of Pictorial Genres in the Antwerp Art Market.