BRUEGHEL THE ELDERBRUEGHEL the Elder
1525 - 1569

Click on the image
for biography.

 SpanishArts.com-ArteEspañol.es

The Triumph of Death
(El Triunfo de la Muerte)
Painted: 1562.
ORIGINAL SIZE: 43.30" x 63.77"

Pieter Breughel was a characteristically Flemish painter, who enjoyed conserving the traditions of early Renaissance painting, but at the same time, took satirical, critical and moralistic inspiration from Bosch.

In this complex painting, where the overall theme is one of pessimism, Breughel uses a variety of scenes to depict the anguish and lack of hope - with the use of sombre colours for both the bare earth and the background fires - to herald the arrival of Death, which comes on a squalid horse, bearing a scythe and pushes humanity against a mound of skeletons, which uses coffin lids as protection.

Brueghel
Click on the image to enlarge
Brueghel
Click on the image to enlarge

Snowy Landscape
(País Nevado)

Brueghel, a very knowledgeable man, began with his earliest works of landscapes, an interest he retained throughout his life. These demonstrate his ability to depict the changing seasonal moods and the atmospheric qualities of nature. He had a great admiration for his Flemish predecessor, Bosch whose influence is notable in many of his works, although Breughel refined his own enriched, sensitive and creative technique, but at the same time, keeping in touch with reality.
 
It has been said of his works that there is more thought than painting.
Visit our sponsors:

Back to the Prado Museum