The Deptford Lads

Pieter Bruegel the Elder
(1525? - 1569)

The design theme for our Brussels pages was inspired by this painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. This piece supplied the visual imagery for each page. Click here, or on the image to see a larger version (800 x 560 - 118 KB).

Bruegel was a 16th century Flemish artist, famous for his paintings of peasant life, and his highly narrative (if sometimes cryptic) landscapes. He is most noted for his distinctive "anti-renaissance" style, with its realism (in both subject/content and execution), wit, and attention to detail.

The "Peasant Wedding" (1568? - oil on wood) is one of my favourites - not just because of its obvious vitality and humour, but also for the overall composition and the colours (which, admittedly, are largely a result of the materials available at the time, and the age of the painting).

Unfortunately, this painting does not hang at the Belgian Musées des Beaux Arts, it is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. However, you can see their other Bruegels, including the fabulous "Census at Bethlehem", and "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus", which are representative of his better known (and slightly earlier) distinctive landscape style.

There was a very interesting exhibition of Bruegel paintings at the Musées des Beaux Arts in Brussels in 2002 - "Brueghel Entreprises" (or The Art of Painting from Father to Son). This brought various copies by Pieter Bruhegel the Younger of paintings by his father, together with the originals (several for the first time).

There is an excellent web site with good quality scans of Bruegel paintings (and lots of others) at Carol Gerten-Jackson's CJFA website.

02/11/98