Brueghel Pieter the Younger (1564/65–1636), painter from Flemish, had the nickname Infernal. He is known for numerous copies of the works of his father, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, as well as original works. A large number of copies were prepared for sale at home, and also went abroad. This contributed to the international recognition of his father's paintings. In the portrait of van Dyck, Brueghel Peter the Younger appears before us. The photo of the drawing both shows his beautiful appearance, and characterizes him as a wise person.
Peter Brueghel the Younger: biography
The son of Pieter Brueghel Sr., nicknamed Peasant, and his wife Mayken Alst was born in Brussels and lost his father at the age of five. Together with his brother Jan (who was called Velvet, Paradise or Blooming) and sister Marie, he began to live with his grandmother Meike Verhulst. Grandmother was the widow of the prolific painter Peter Cook van Aelst. She was an accomplished artist herself, known for her miniatures. Possibly Karel van Mander Meiken Verhulst, a Flemish Northern Mannerist painter, poet, historian and art theorist, was the firstteacher of her two grandchildren.
Some time after 1578, the Bruegel family moved to Antwerp. Probably Brueghel Pieter Jr. came to the studio of the landscape painter Gillis van Koningsloe, who studied with Peter Cook van Aelst. His teacher left Antwerp in 1585, but by this time Brueghel had already been accepted into the Guild of St. Luke as an independent, independent painter.
November 5, 1588 Brueghel Peter the Younger married Elisabeth Goddelet. They had seven children, many of whom died in early childhood. One of the sons, whose name was Pieter Brueghel III, will also become an artist. Brueghel Peter the Younger himself runs a large workshop in Antwerp, which mainly produces inexpensive copies of his father's works, which sell well both in the country and abroad. However, despite a sufficient number of orders, the artist often experiences financial difficulties. This is most likely due to excessive alcohol consumption. He had at least nine students, including the likes of Frans Snyders and Andries Daniels. After learning how to work by making copies in Brueghel's studio, both became famous as masters of still life.
The artist Pieter Brueghel Jr died in Antwerp at the age of 72.
Independent work
The painter, as already mentioned, was more specialized in creating numerous copies of the most famous works of his father. Pieter Bruegel Jr. himself painted landscapes, paintings on religious subjects and genre village scenes. His name and works wereforgotten in the 18th and 19th centuries until it was rediscovered in the first half of the 20th century.
Paintings "Tax Collector" and "Bride"
Peter Brueghel the Younger created bright, energetic, bold, idiosyncratic works based on idioms that are difficult to literally translate for a foreigner.
They require careful consideration. Such a picture was, for example, the "Office of the tax collector." She has several more titles that speak of the possibility of various interpretations of this work. A man in a lawyer's hat is standing at the table. But the collection of taxes usually does not take place in such a setting as it is depicted on the canvas. Both the documents and the bags on the table look different from what they were in real life at that time. In addition, peasants usually brought tithes in grain. Here they line up with chickens and eggs. The picture shows the interest of a city dweller, which was Brueghel, to village life. The artist has made at least 25 copies of this work in various formats.
Another original work by Brueghel is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is The Bride. At least five of its author's versions are known. The painting depicts the ancient Flemish spring custom of choosing a queen for Trinity and crowning her with a wreath of flowers gathered in the fields by children. Both in style and color, the picture is clearly different from the works of his father. The painting uses such a bright color as cinnabar, as well as the richest blue-green hues. The integrity of the composition and pattern is visible on the canvas. At the National Gallery in Praguefour of his works can also be found, but since his style has not changed throughout his life, it can be difficult to reliably say whether any work is original and independent, or is it one of the copies of his father's lost work.
Copy Maker
Brueghel Peter the Younger in the Hermitage is represented by five copies of his father's works. These are "Adoration of the Magi", "Fair with theatrical performance", "Winter Landscape", "Sermon of St. John the Baptist" and "The Attack of the Robbers on the Peasants". The copyist inevitably made small changes to these canvases that distinguish his works from those of his father. They differ both in color and in reading the theme with details that may somewhat change the meaning of the newly created paintings.
Christmas theme
After rewriting his father's painting, Pieter Brueghel Jr. touched on this topic. The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by Brueghel the Elder depicting a small village where, under a gloomy winter sky, people are busy with their ordinary, non-holiday life. This is the everyday life of a Flemish village.
But mules appeared in the square, covered with decorated blankets. This makes people pay attention to the inconspicuous building, which is located on the left. In the picture of Brueghel the son, Mary and the baby are almost invisible. The Magi are dressed quite casually. The main thing is everyday life, which seethes, fusses. It is full of necessary activity and binds man and the universe into a single whole.
Winter
Of course, initially thisa peaceful work created by the father. Its copy was written by Brueghel Pieter Jr. "Winter Landscape with Bird Trap" depicts a clear morning instead of a gloomy day.
The light azure of the sky, reflected in the white snow, smoothly and harmoniously turns into greenish ice on the river. Fun with skates in the picture is not the main thing. Important is the trap, which is made of a door for the stupid birds that the catcher is waiting for. By the way, he's not in the picture. What is behind this? The question of the frailty and fragility of any life. Bird-like if the trap closes, human-like if the ice on the river cracks and fun turns into tragedy.
Massacre of the Innocents
According to the Gospel of Matthew, upon learning of the birth of Jesus, King Herod ordered the killing of all children in Bethlehem under the age of two. Brueghel modernized history, and his soldiers wear the uniform of the Spanish army and their German mercenaries.
This work of his father was repeated by Pieter Brueghel Jr. The Massacre of the Innocents sold at least 14 copies. The version now in the Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II originally belonged to Emperor Rudolf II. The dead babies were painted over. Instead, they drew food and animals. Thus, instead of massacre, robbery and looting turned out. In 1988, it was restored and its original appearance was restored. This piece was purchased by Charles II in 1662.
Summer
The end of summer, the harvest reflected in the painting by Pieter Bruegel the Younger. "Harvest", of course, differs in details from the father's canvas. A closer view shows the inhabitants of the village. Some, after work, do not rest under a tree, like their father, but where their fatigue has overtaken.
A peasant comes to the fore, quenching his thirst from a huge jug. In terms of color, the picture of the son is brighter, more cheerful, it has more cinnabar. The landscape in the background is completely different. All the attention of the artist is riveted to people who have already worked hard and are harvesting a deservedly large harvest. The painter is very warm towards the depicted inhabitants of a small village, tireless workers.
Abstract on history. Pieter Brueghel the Younger
The art of the Northern Renaissance developed according to completely different laws when compared with Italian. First, it is almost a century behind. Secondly, the artists did not have great images of Greco-Roman culture. Lastly, it developed against the background of the struggle for freedom against the Spanish invaders and the reformation of the Church. In general, all this was expressed in the paintings of the Dutch painters by a greater proximity to the Gothic and more conventional and archaic forms. To some extent, in their work there is a pagan perception of the world: God is dissolved in every particle of it. Meanwhile, the official doctrine denies this. God is far away and oversees the deeds of people.
The artists of the Netherlands sought to decorate everyday life, poetized everyday life. Therefore, the landscape from the background image in the picture becameindependent genre, like still life.
In the work of Bruegel, especially the younger one, the opposition of evil and good, philosophical overtones about the frailty of the earth, mockery, as, for example, in the painting "The Alchemist" based on the engraving of his father, are very strong.
The artist, following his father, peers into the activities of people, but sees meaning in their actions, while his father did not see it, depicting life as an empty vanity. With love and attention, the artist depicts the life of the people, altering the paintings of his father. He reads them differently. Everyday life does not seem to him nonsense. And besides, it is full of that beauty and brightness, which were few in the paintings of Brueghel the Elder. And the landscape part of the canvases continues to develop what his father started, showing the beauty of the world around him. Thus, by making copies and actively selling them abroad, Brueghel the Younger acquaints the world not only with the works of his great ancestor, who march triumphantly across countries and continents, but with his own vision of the world.
