Pieter Bruegel the Elder lived in Antwerp, Belgium. He was apprenticed to Pieter Coecke van Aelst. Coecke was also an admired painter: “He was court painter to Emperor Charles V and was moreover active as a sculptor, architect, and designer of tapestries, stained glass, and festal decorations.” (Wied, 2022) However, Bruegel’s later art shared little similarity with the work of Coecke and he did not find his voice while working under this master. Typically an apprentice would work exactly as his master wanted, doing exactly what he said, no more and no less. Because of this, Bruegel’s talent did not matter. And yet, his master was the only way to get access to the world of art and commissions. So it was in his best interest to stay and try to learn as much as he could about Coecke’s style.
It wasn’t until around 1550 that Bruegel was finally allowed to explore his originality. Coecke had passed away and Bruegel found a new mentor, named Jerome Cock. Cock himself wasn’t a particularly good artist, but was “intelligent, ambitious, and alert.” (Klein 1968, 2) Instead, Cock was a good businessman and he understood the art scene very well. He knew what was popular, how art was improving around the world, and how to make art that appealed to customers. Not to mention, he was also based in Antwerp, where Bruegel lived.
Master Cock was also skilled at copper plate engravings since he was a publisher himself. Pieter Bruegel became very popular for his use of the pen, and the engravings that came from it, being reproduced over and over again. By 1551, Bruegel was admitted into the Brotherhood of Saint Luke, which granted him true freedom. He was able to choose his subjects, sign his work, and accept commissions. Not only that, but he was able to have apprentices of his own, who could learn his style and help on future projects.
Pieter Bruegel’s art falls under distinctive categories: engraving drawings, complete drawings, sketches (along with notes), and paintings. (Klein 1968, 3) Engraving drawings were also known as designs and were made specifically to later be printed. Complete drawings were solely made as pieces on their own but sometimes were turned into engravings. Sketches were made along with notes intended only to help Bruegel in planning and finishing a project. Finally, his paintings were usually vivid with color, but some were painted with analogous colors. Bruegel is very well known for his paintings, as well as his prints. And yet, engraving was an important part of his artistic journey and a steady source of income at the time. Bruegel wasn’t getting many large painting commissions so he published many designs, including The Seven Deadly Sin Series, The Seven Virtues, and The Alchemist, to name a few. (Orenstein 2001, 7) Later on in 1559, the amount of painting commissions started to grow larger, sadly declining the amount of prints he designed. Still, some prints were made. Most notably: Spring and Summer, as well as woodcut designs known as The Wild Man and The Dirty Bride. (Orenstein 2001, 7)
Printmaking had an interesting life in the Netherlands, and from 1554 to 1569, Bruegel was right in the middle of it. Bruegel only fully produced one print, named The Rabbit Hunt, but he designed many more prints that were later engraved and printed. The process took multiple people, including distinct roles like an engraver, printer, and publisher. By the middle of the century, Hieronymus Cock was running an entire business where none of the etchings were done by him. (Orenstein 2001, 42) One of his etchings is named View of the Colosseum, from his series Roman Ruins. It shows how the Colosseum looked in the 16th century, overgrown with weeds and almost forgotten. You could see how time destroys things, even the Colosseum which used to be a great feat of architecture. (Wied, 2022)
The Tower of Babel is not only one of the most impressive pieces by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, but it is also the most architecturally interesting. The painting depicts a massive tower, reaching high up into the sky and even ready to go higher, although it isn’t finished. The tower, known as The Tower of Babylon, and its surroundings are from a story in the bible. The tower was created by King Nimrod to build it so high that it could reach the heavens. However God wasn’t happy with this, so he divided the workers by separating their languages: “Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another’s speech. And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city” (Gen. 11:6–8).
The architecture of the tower most closely resembles the Colosseum of Rome, erected in 72 AD. You can tell this by the multitude of arches that cover the face of the building. You can tell how they’re inset into the wall, sometimes even seeing what’s beyond the archway. Not to mention the even smaller architectural details like brickwork, frames, scaffolding, and balconies: “Bruegel carefully transcribes the various processes of building the tower, winching materials up from the harbor below, cutting stones, and building scaffolding.” (Wied, 2022) Bruegel understood what he was drawing, not only visually but architecturally: “If this Babel painting and the interior construction plans of the Colosseum of Rome are compared, they provide convincing evidence that Bruegel knew how the great arena had been built. He may even have brought sketches of its exposed skeleton back to the Low Countries in his notebooks” (Klein 1968, 75)
I chose to write about Pieter Bruegel because of his painting: The Tower of Babel. I was interested in the architecture that makes up most of the painting and how it plays along with the story. I also loved how he created a world for this piece to live in, all the people, the town in the background, as well as other wildlife. But as I was researching Bruegel as an artist, I found other parts that also intrigued me. Being a part of a turning point in printmaking was a unique opportunity for Bruegel that allowed his art to be more accessible to lower-income customers. Bruegel didn’t just have a painting I liked, but his whole life sounded interesting and worth looking into.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder died in Brussels, in 1569. Most of his life is unknown and up for speculation. The only reason it is known that he died there is due to the memorial erected years later by his son, the painter Jan Brueghel. Both of Bruegel’s sons went on to become successful painters, Jan even running a workshop that produced variations of Bruegel’s art.
I believe Bruegel’s work is still important today due to how he captured everyday life: Children Playing and Parable of the Blind, just to name a few. While he created some other breathtaking works that also deserve careful thought and consideration, like Triumph of Death, I believe these more candid paintings helped others from all different parts of the world understand what life was like for those depicted. Art like this allows people to relate to each other, even if our lives differ greatly from theirs.
Bibliography
Barbara A. Kaminska, ““Come, let us make a city and a tower”: Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Tower of Babel and the Creation of a Harmonious Community in Antwerp,” Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 6:2 (Summer 2014) DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2014.6.2.3
Bruegel, Pieter, Nadine Orenstein, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam, Netherlands). Pieter Bruegel the Elder : Drawings and Prints. New York, New Haven: Metropolitan Museum of Art ; Yale University Press, 2001.
J. K. R. The Burlington Magazine 109, no. 773 (1967): 481–481. http://www.jstor.org/stable/875390.
Klein, H. Arthur., Klein, Mina C.. Peter Bruegel the Elder, artist of abundance: an illustrated portrait of his life, era, and art. New York: Macmillan, 1968.
Wied, Alexander, and Stephanie Porras. “Bruegel, Pieter, I [the elder].” Grove Art Online. 14 Mar. 2022; Accessed 6 Dec. 2023. https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-60000100940.
