Pieter Bruegel - The Complete Paintings

 The life and times of Pieter Bruegel the Elder were marked by strong political, social and cultural conflicts. He witnessed religious wars, the Duke of Alba’s rule as the governor of the Netherlands and the palpable effects of the inquisition. To this day, the Flemish artist remains shrouded in mystery. We know neither where nor exactly when he was born. But while early scholarship emphasized the vernacular character of his painting and graphic work, modern research has attached greater importance to its humanistic content. His paintings depict vices and virtues alongside jolly peasant festivals and sweeping landscape panoramas in an overwhelming way in his unique style. During his life he increasingly turned to historical painting, working for the cultural elite of Amsterdam, Antwerp and Brussels. Rather than idealizing reality, he bravely confronted the issues of his day, addressing the horrors of religious warfare and taking a critical stand against religion. To this end, Bruegel developed his own pictorial language of dissidence, lacing innocuous everyday scenes with subliminal statements in order to escape repercussions. Pieter Bruegel - The Complete Paintings by Jürgen Müller. Hardcover 192 pages ISBN:9783836580960