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Piter BreigelArtist
Country:
 Netherlands |
Biography of Pieter Bruegel
Pieter Bruegel was a Dutch painter and printmaker known for his mysterious life and fate. Researchers have been searching for a fictitious village named after him, where he supposedly arrived in Antwerp as a young wanderer, two hundred years before Lomonosov. Like the brilliant Russian peasant, Bruegel started his studies and artistic career late but quickly made up for lost time. He studied under the famous and successful Peter Cook van Alst, the court artist of Emperor Charles V.
Bruegel's works remained hidden in private collections until the 20th century. The brilliant series of paintings "The Seasons," commissioned by the Brussels merchant Jongeling, were hidden in a pawnshop while the artist was still alive. Other works of the artist were scattered throughout cities and villages in Europe. Finally, Pieter Bruegel the Elder's work was fully assembled and presented in all its creative power. He overshadowed his sons, Peter the Younger (Hellish) and Jan the Velvet, who had achieved more success and fame in their careers.
During his time, Bruegel's art was seen as a "box with a double bottom" by his contemporaries. The master himself, keeping his secrets, instructed his young wife to burn many engravings and drawings before his death. This was because the captions under his works and the works themselves silently cried out about many things that were better left unsaid at the time. Bruegel lived in a cruel era, during the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands. Even his biblical scenes, such as "The Census at Bethlehem" and "The Massacre of the Innocents," disguised scenes of contemporary robberies and violence. His paintings revealed the menacing silhouettes of gallows and bonfires, which had become as integral a part of the Dutch landscape as peaceful windmills and bell towers.
The paradox is that Cardinal Granvelle, the Spanish governor who covered the Netherlands in the ashes of heretics, went down in history as an avid admirer of Pieter Bruegel. It was he who hid the artist's paintings in his house, thus saving the author and his free-thinking art from certain destruction.
Bruegel's life and fate remain mysterious. Researchers are still searching for the fabled village that supposedly gave its name to the young vagabond who arrived in Antwerp with a mythical fish convoy, two hundred years before Lomonosov. Like the brilliant Russian peasant, Bruegel began his studies and artistic career late but quickly made up for lost time. He studied under the famous and successful Peter Cook van Alst, the court artist of Emperor Charles V. In his wealthy home, filled with books and exotic rarities, the homeless pauper not only learned about painting but also found interesting and thoughtful friends. However, the strongest influence on him came from the vivid impressions of life around him, which encompassed both sober skepticism and unrestrained imagination. However, these are only fragments of the truth, gathered bit by bit. The real Bruegel reveals himself only when he is already over thirty: in 1551, when he is finally accepted into the Antwerp Guild of Painters, he emerges from the darkness of time. In fact, he seems to be so firmly established that two years later, he embarks on a journey to France, Italy, and Switzerland. He is captivated by the ancient monuments of Rome, the masterpieces of the Renaissance, the power of the sea, and the picturesque harbors of the Mediterranean. But the mountains impressed the inhabitant of the plains the most. A friend once said about this: "While in the Alps, Pieter swallowed mountains and rocks, and upon his return, he began to spew them onto the canvas."
However, it is not only new sensations but also a new and, in the full sense of the word, paradoxical perspective on the universe that Bruegel presents in his painting "The Fall of Icarus." In this, his first masterpiece, Bruegel literally turns the popular story of the "Metamorphoses" by the ancient Roman poet Ovid upside down. In Ovid's version, everyone is astonished at the sight of Daedalus and Icarus freely soaring through the sky. In Bruegel's painting, no one is surprised by the flight of the winged men; everyone is absorbed in their own activities: the plowman stares at the furrow, the fisherman in his net, the shepherd only slightly raises his head, and the sailors on the passing ship don't even come out on deck. No one feels the magic of flight or the tragedy of Icarus' fall! And where is the hero who was almost deified? Only a pair of futile boyish legs flailing above the sea, and circles in the water. He disappears into the sea, without even having time (as Ovid wrote) to shout his "father's name." What prompted Bruegel to pass such a sentence? What did he have to repent of, what did he fear? The answer is obvious: the sharp and mocking captions under his works, and the engravings and drawings themselves silently scream about things that were better left unsaid at the time. Bruegel lived in a cruel era during the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands. Even his biblical scenes, like "The Census at Bethlehem" and "The Massacre of the Innocents," disguise scenes of contemporary robberies and violence. His paintings reveal the menacing silhouettes of gallows and bonfires, which had become as integral a part of the Dutch landscape as peaceful windmills and bell towers.
Pieter Bruegel was a painter and thinker who effortlessly transitioned from cold skepticism to warm, unrestrained joy. This is evident in his famous "Games" series. In dozens of engravings, the artist dresses up in the clothes of all social classes and parodies anyone he encounters. In the village tavern scene, we can observe a hundred Dutch proverbs, transforming into a hundred little tragic comedies, representing the upside-down world of everyday human vanity.
Skepticism, sarcasm, irony, and farce define the genius of Pieter the Jester until he decides to start a family. And it doesn't take long for him to make that decision. In 1563, six years before his death, he proposes to the one he loved since she was a little girl, when he used to carry her in his arms. This person is Maria, known as Maiken, the daughter of his unforgettable teacher Peter Cook van Alst, who had long since passed away. Bruegel's first declaration to his future wife is made in the painting "Adoration of the Magi," where Maiken appears as the Virgin Mary. She is so modest and shy as the Heavenly Queen that there is no doubt that the artist wanted his model to be recognized. And Maiken recognizes herself. Without being bothered by the significant age difference, she extends her tender and faithful hand to the lonely Bruegel. Pieter Bruegel moves to Brussels, to Maiken's house. Happy and inspired, he seeks to find his way out of the worn-out game of the skeptic and jester in both his paintings and his life. He finds it in the friendship of the social class from which he once emerged—among the peasants. A man of exceptional emotional sensitivity, he sees behind their rough simplicity the only healthy force capable of resisting the onslaught of universal evil.
His picturesque series "The Seasons" presents peasant life harmoniously blended with nature. In "Haymaking" and "Harvest," the warm heat and golden fields are fully synchronized with the rhythms of the simple and timeless peasant labor. No other painter before Bruegel so lovingly portrayed the beauty of the farmer directly in action—through the powerful plasticity of a wide scythe's gesture or the heavy grace of a reaper collecting ears of wheat. For creating this epic, Pieter Bruegel the Elder earned his most famous nickname—the Peasant.
Next to the fiery gold of bountiful summer, Bruegel reveals the silver charm of the northern winter. The freshly fallen snow covering the earth appears even whiter against the dark silhouettes of the "Hunters in the Snow." The outstanding film director Andrei Tarkovsky chose this particular painting for his fantastic film "Solaris" as a poignant reminder of the abandoned Earth, the purity of earthly childhood, and the wisdom of human existence. For Bruegel, man is no longer a cosmic speck of dust, as depicted in "The Fall of Icarus." He is once again almighty. This is evident in his festive, monumental scenes of the "Peasant Wedding." The dancers, stout and solid, almost square, resembling living monoliths, may not be graceful or nimble, but they revel wholeheartedly and joyfully. Their movements are full of natural strength, ease, and dignity. In these people, naive and wise, Bruegel saw the true owners of his own destiny and his country.
Bruegel's last painting depicted a storm at sea, which was remarkably daring for the art of that time. Above the turbulent blue waters, delicate white seagulls soar. They promise the ships the proximity of the desired shore. One can imagine the allegory of the impending freedom in Bruegel's storm.
On September 5, 1569, Pieter Bruegel the Elder passed away. His young widow buried him in the Notre-Dame de la Chapelle Cathedral in Brussels. Did the faithful Maiken fulfill her husband's strict order to destroy his bold graphics? It remains unknown, as Pieter Bruegel the Elder's will did not survive. His paintings became his true legacy. The creator of "The Triumph of Death" is rightly considered a precursor of modern surrealism. However, Bruegel's influence extends far beyond that. In "The Hundred Proverbs" and "The Tower of Babel," Pieter the Jester introduced the genre of tragicomedy into European culture. And the romantic "Seasons" of Pieter the Peasant remind us that our world is truly eternal and beautiful.
