Pieter Bruegel the Elder and his travel

How many languages spoke Pieter Bruegel the Elder and how many counties did he visit?


Based on the available information, there is no mention of how many languages Pieter Bruegel the Elder spoke. However, it is noted that he had not mastered Latin and had others add Latin captions to some of his drawings.

Regarding his travels, he visited Italy in 1551 or 1552, likely traveling through France to get there. During his time in Italy, he traveled as far south as Sicily, visiting cities such as Rome, Naples, and Messina.







Did he travel by foot?


The context does not specify whether Pieter Bruegel the Elder traveled to Italy by foot. It only mentions that he made a "lengthy visit to Italy, travelling as far south as Sicily." It's noted that he crossed the Alps, which left a lasting impression on his work. The exact mode of his transportation, whether by foot, horseback, or other means, is not detailed in the provided text.






Whom did he met in Rome?


In Rome, Pieter Bruegel the Elder met and worked with the celebrated miniaturist Giulio Clovio.

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Juraj Julije Klovi; (Italian: Giorgio Giulio Clovio; 1498 – 5 January 1578) was a Croatian-Italian illuminator, miniaturist, and painter born in the Kingdom of Croatia, who was mostly active in Renaissance Italy.[1] He is considered the greatest illuminator of the Italian High Renaissance, and arguably the last very notable artist in the long tradition of the illuminated manuscript, before some modern revivals.

Contact with other artists
Clovio was a friend of the much younger El Greco, the celebrated Greek artist from Heraklion on Crete, who later worked in Spain, during El Greco's early years in Rome. Greco painted two portraits of Clovio; one shows the four painters whom he considered his masters; in this, Clovio is side by side with Michelangelo, Titian, and Raphael. Clovio was also known as Michelangelo of the miniature. Books with his miniatures became famous primarily due to his skilled illustrations. He was persuasive in transferring the style of Italian high Renaissance painting into the miniature format.[citation needed]

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a personal friend of Giulio Clovio, and stayed with Clovio in Rome during his Italian trip of 1553.[12] Breugel executed a small medallion depicting ships in a storm on a Clovio miniature of the Last Judgment (New York Public Library),[13] but the six Bruegels mentioned in Clovio's will have all disappeared

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Did Giulio Clovio witnessed the destraction of Rome by lutherans?


Yes, Giulio Clovio did witness the Sack of Rome in 1527.

Historical sources indicate that Clovio was in Rome when the city was attacked by the mutinous troops of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. He was even taken prisoner during the event. The experience was so traumatic that he vowed to dedicate his life to a religious calling if he were to regain his freedom.

It's important to clarify that the troops who sacked Rome were not solely "Lutherans." The army was a mixed force of unpaid soldiers from various regions, including Spanish Catholics and German mercenaries known as Landsknechte. While many of the German troops had indeed converted to Lutheranism and held a particular animosity toward the Papacy, the sack was driven by a combination of religious fervor, a lack of pay, and the desire for plunder, rather than a single religious agenda.