Pieter Bruegel

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, generally considered the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century, is by far the most important member of the family. He was born in Brueghel near Breda in the Duchy of Brabant, now in The Netherlands. Accepted as a master in the Antwerp painters' guild in 1551, he was apprenticed to Coecke van Aelst, a leading Antwerp artist, sculptor, architect, and designer of tapestry and stained glass. Bruegel traveled to Italy in 1551 or 1552, completing a number of paintings, mostly landscapes, there. Returning home in 1553, he settled in Antwerp but ten years later moved permanently to Brussels. His 40 paintings, including his landscapes and scenes of peasant life, as well as his 100 drawings stress the absurd and vulgar, yet are full of fine detail. They also expose human weaknesses and follies. He was sometimes called the «peasant Bruegel» from such works as «Peasant Wedding Feast» (1567) and was influenced by Hieronymus Bosch and by Joachim Patinir's «World Landscapes». Bruegel, whose sons Pieter the Younger (Hell Bruegel) and Jan the Elder (Flower Bruegel) have become widely known painters as well, died on September 5, 1569, in Brussels.