Biographers of bruegel

WHAT DID  Karel van Mander WROTE ABOUT PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER?


In his 1604 work, Het Schilder-boeck (The Book of Painters), the Flemish biographer and artist Karel van Mander wrote a biography of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Van Mander's account is a primary source of information about Bruegel, though its accuracy has been debated by art historians.

Key Points from Van Mander's Account
Apprenticeship and Influence: Van Mander states that Bruegel apprenticed under the painter Pieter Coecke van Aelst. He also mentions Bruegel's travels to Italy, noting that while there, he "swallowed" the mountains and "spat them out" onto his canvases—a vivid metaphor suggesting that Bruegel absorbed and transformed nature rather than simply imitating Italian art.

Peasant Scenes and "Funny Peter": Van Mander's biography is the source of the well-known story that Bruegel would disguise himself as a peasant to attend village festivals and fairs. This allowed him to observe and sketch the local people, whom he depicted in his famous peasant scenes like The Peasant Wedding and The Peasant Dance. Van Mander nicknamed him "Pier den Drol" or "Funny Peter," suggesting Bruegel's humorous and often satirical approach to his subjects.

Final Instructions: According to Van Mander, Bruegel, on his deathbed, instructed his wife to destroy certain drawings because of their "caustic" nature. This has led scholars to speculate that some of Bruegel's work contained strong political or religious critiques of the Habsburg rulers and the Catholic Church.

Van Mander's biography helped shape the traditional view of Bruegel as a country-loving artist who was a keen observer of peasant life. While modern scholarship has questioned some of Van Mander's anecdotes, his work remains a fundamental text for understanding Bruegel's legacy and his reputation in the decades following his death.







dID Karel van Mander KNEW BRUEGEL PERSONALLY?


No, it's highly unlikely that Karel van Mander knew Pieter Bruegel the Elder personally. Bruegel died in 1569, while van Mander, born in 1548, would have been around 21 years old at the time of Bruegel's death.

The information in Het Schilder-boeck (The Book of Painters), published in 1604, was likely compiled from various sources, including Bruegel's contemporaries, patrons, and possibly his wife, Mayken Coecke, who outlived him by many years. While Van Mander's biography is a crucial source for information about Bruegel, its reliability has been debated by art historians due to the biographical distance between the two men. The anecdotes van Mander provides, such as Bruegel disguising himself as a peasant, are often seen as part of a larger, myth-making effort to define Bruegel's artistic persona.







wHO WAS NEXT BIOGRAPHER OF bRUEGEL ?


While there isn't a single, major biographer who followed Karel van Mander in the same manner, other artists and writers of the 17th century did contribute to Bruegel's developing reputation. Van Mander's work, Het Schilder-boeck (1604), remained the most significant biographical source for Bruegel for many years.

Other Early Sources
Lodovico Guicciardini: An earlier, though less detailed, source is Lodovico Guicciardini's Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi (Description of all the Low Countries), published in 1567, just two years before Bruegel's death. This work briefly mentions Bruegel as a gifted artist from Breda. While not a full biography, it provides one of the earliest written accounts of him.

Family Tradition: Bruegel's artistic legacy was primarily carried on by his sons, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder. As painters themselves, they were the most direct link to their father's style and reputation. They copied his works and continued the family tradition, which helped to cement Bruegel's place in art history. Their influence and the continued popularity of Bruegel's prints ensured that his work remained in the public eye long after his death.


Art Collections and Patronage: During the 17th century, wealthy collectors and connoisseurs, such as Emperor Rudolf II, actively sought out Bruegel's paintings. The documentation and inventories of these collections also serve as a form of historical record, though they are not traditional biographies.

In summary, while no direct "next biographer" in the style of van Mander emerged, Bruegel's fame was sustained and expanded through the works of earlier writers, his own sons, and the growing interest of prominent collectors.







wHAT DID HIS FGRIENS COLLEGS AND FAMILY MEMEBERS SAY ABOUT HIM?


Based on the available information, here is what some of Bruegel's contemporaries and close associates said about him:

Abraham Ortelius: The cartographer Abraham Ortelius, a close friend of Bruegel, wrote a famous tribute to him in a commemorative album. He praised Bruegel as "the most perfect of his century" and said that he was "taken from us while still in his full manhood." Ortelius also compared Bruegel's work to that of the ancient Greek painter Eupompos, who famously said he "followed nature herself, not an artist." Ortelius concluded, "Indeed, I would not call him the best of painters, but rather the very nature of painters. So I think that he is worthy of being followed by all."


Karel van Mander: As mentioned previously, Van Mander's account is a key source, though it was written after Bruegel's death. He described Bruegel as a country-loving artist who would disguise himself as a peasant to observe village life. He also stated that Bruegel, before his death, asked his wife to burn certain drawings due to their "caustic" or sharp content, which he feared might bring trouble to her.


Mayken Coecke (his wife): The available information doesn't contain direct quotes from Mayken Coecke. However, Van Mander's biography mentions that Bruegel instructed her to destroy certain works before his death, suggesting a concern for her safety.

Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder (his sons): Since they were very young when their father died (ages five and one, respectively), they would not have had personal recollections of his artistic practice. Their legacy, however, demonstrates their deep connection to his work. Pieter the Younger, in particular, became famous for creating numerous copies of his father's paintings, which helped to spread their popularity and ensured the survival of the Bruegel name in art history.







wHO WAS THE FIRST MAJOR DIOGRAPHER IN THE MODERTN TIME?


The first major biographer of Bruegel in the modern era was the Austrian art historian Gustav Gl;ck (1871-1952).

Gl;ck's work, particularly his book Das Bruegel-Buch (The Bruegel Book) published in 1932, was a foundational text for 20th-century scholarship on the artist. Unlike Karel van Mander, who relied on anecdotes and oral traditions, Gl;ck's approach was characteristic of modern art history. He focused on a formal analysis of Bruegel's paintings and a critical examination of the historical record, which helped to move Bruegel studies beyond the folkloric image created by van Mander.

Gl;ck's research, which included a comprehensive catalogue of Bruegel's known works, set a new standard for art historical inquiry into the artist's life and work. His meticulous scholarship helped establish Bruegel as a serious, intellectual artist rather than just "Peasant Bruegel," a reputation he had long held due to van Mander's popular account.







wAS Gustav Gl;ck (1871-1952) THE FIRST WHO APPROVED ON THE EXISTANSE OF MONTHLY SERIES?


No, Gustav Gl;ck was not the first to approve of the existence of the monthly series. The fact that the paintings were a series depicting the months or seasons was known long before Gl;ck's time.

The series was already recognized as such in the 16th century. It was commissioned by the wealthy Antwerp merchant Niclaes Jonghelinck, who, at the time of his death in 1570, owned sixteen paintings by Bruegel, including the series. The series' existence and subject matter were part of its known history as it was sold and passed through various collections.

What Gl;ck and later art historians did was to provide a more rigorous, scholarly analysis of the series. Gl;ck's work was significant because it was part of a broader trend in modern art history to move beyond anecdotal accounts and to use a more systematic and academic approach to study artists and their works. He helped to establish the series' importance within Bruegel's oeuvre and within the history of landscape painting itself, moving the focus from the popular, folkloric image of the artist to an intellectual and critical understanding of his art.

In essence, while the existence of the series was already known, Gl;ck's work was instrumental in elevating its scholarly importance and in cataloging it as part of a serious and influential body of work.







kNOWING AND APPROVING IS NOT THE SAME. DID HE SUPPORT THE THEORY?


Yes, Gustav Gl;ck strongly supported the theory that the surviving five paintings by Bruegel—The Hunters in the Snow, The Gloomy Day, The Return of the Herd, The Hay Harvest, and The Harvesters—constituted a series depicting the months or seasons. His academic work in the early 20th century was instrumental in solidifying this theory within modern art history.

While the existence of the series was known since the 16th century, earlier sources lacked the detailed, scholarly analysis that Gl;ck provided. He meticulously studied the paintings, their style, and their historical context, confirming that they were part of a larger, originally six-painting cycle commissioned by Niclaes Jonghelinck. Gl;ck’s work elevated the series from a historical curiosity to a major art historical subject, helping to establish Bruegel’s reputation as a pioneer of landscape painting and a keen observer of rural life.







wHICH BIOGRAFER COMES NEXT?


After Gustav Gl;ck's foundational work, Bruegel scholarship expanded and became more specialized, with multiple scholars contributing to the field rather than a single dominant biographer. However, one of the most significant figures to build upon Gl;ck's legacy and publish a major, comprehensive study of Bruegel was Max J. Friedl;nder (1867-1958).

Friedl;nder's monumental 14-volume work, Early Netherlandish Painting, included a volume dedicated to Bruegel and his contemporaries. While Gl;ck's work was central, Friedl;nder's approach was more encompassing, placing Bruegel within the larger context of 16th-century Netherlandish art. He was a pioneer in using connoisseurship and a stylistic analysis to attribute works to specific artists, a method that was crucial for distinguishing Bruegel's originals from the many copies made by his sons and followers.

In more recent times, Manfred Sellink has been a prominent and highly respected Bruegel scholar. His 2007 book, Bruegel: The Complete Paintings, Drawings and Prints, is widely considered a leading modern reference. Sellink's work provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis, incorporating the latest art historical research and technical examinations of the works. He also edited the catalog for the landmark 2018 exhibition "Bruegel: The Master" at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, which brought together many of the artist's works for a major re-evaluation.

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WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON PROF JURGEN mUELLER?


Professor J;rgen M;ller is a German art historian and a leading modern scholar specializing in Early Netherlandish painting, Mannerism, and the art of the Golden Age. He holds the chair of Early Modern and Modern Art History at the Technical University of Dresden.

His scholarship on Pieter Bruegel the Elder is particularly well-regarded. A key work of his is Bruegel: The Complete Works, published by Taschen, which provides a comprehensive, high-resolution overview of Bruegel's paintings, drawings, and prints. M;ller's academic approach aligns with modern art historical methods, focusing on a critical analysis of the artist's work and its historical context, rather than on the anecdotal and often unverified stories from earlier biographers like Karel van Mander.

M;ller's research emphasizes the humanistic content and intellectual depth of Bruegel's work, arguing that the artist used a "pictorial language of dissidence" to subtly critique the religious and political turmoil of his time. This view contrasts with earlier interpretations that saw Bruegel primarily as a painter of simple peasant life. He has contributed to significant exhibitions and publications, including the catalogue for the 2001 exhibition "Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His work has cemented Bruegel's reputation as a sophisticated and courageous artist who used his art to comment on the society around him.

You can see a detailed flip-through of his book on Bruegel in this video: Bruegel The Complete Works - Taschen Edition. This video provides a look at the comprehensive nature and high-quality reproductions found in J;rgen M;ller's major monograph on the artist.

Bruegel - J;rgen M;ller (Taschen 40th Anniversary) | Scratching, Page Turning | Sounds Book ASMR - YouTube

Sounds Book ASMR · 1.4K views









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