Peter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525 - 1569)

Peter Bruegel is known for depicting the common masses of humanity, focusing on rural working scenes, religion, superstition, and the socio-political intrigues of his time. Allegedly, he was born into a family of peasants. He tackled these themes with droll, often grotesque humor.

• Droll - amusing or witty in an unexpected way. As a noun - a jester, or an entertainer.

The Second Bosch

Bruegel is sometimes referred to as the Second Bosch due to the influence Bosch had on him. Both are known for their detailed, fantastical, and often grotesque depictions of human folly, moral lessons, and religious themes.

💡 His distinctive contribution to art history lies in his narrative compositions, where sprawling landscapes are filled with numerous figures engaged in daily activities, focusing on the absurdity and vices of humanity.

Bruegel also pioneered the depiction of everyday working life, captured with honesty and empathy, which was rather uncommon during the Renaissance, a time that mostly focused on heroic figures and nobility.

Bruegel created many grotesque creatures after Bosch, by recombining elements of humans, vegetables, animals, and inanimate objects. Like many artists of his time, his inspiration came from local legends, the socio-political context, proverbs, and other artists.

Without knowledge of the proverbs of that time, it is often difficult to interpret his works. It’s also worth noting that during this period, people were highly superstitious and easily deceived, which became a frequent subject of humor depicted visually.

He was a sketch artist, and all of his sketches were produced as engravings by Peter Van der Heyden.

Brief Analysis

It's interesting how little interest Bruegel showed in individual humans. He painted neither portraits nor nudity, which were so common during the Renaissance (15th-17th century). While Italian painters aimed for perfection in the human form, portraying it as sublime and distinctly superior to the animal world—believing humans were created in the image of God.

Bruegel's scenes often teem with numerous, indistinguishable figures, many appearing foolish and devoid of emotion. Rather than romanticizing or idealizing humanity, he emphasized its animalistic and flawed nature. Later, Bruegel shifted his focus to nature, making it the centerpiece of works like his series depicting the months of the year, where he used color to convey mood and atmosphere.

Big Fish Eat Little Fish (1557)

Touching upon the same theme as The Beekeepers, Big Fish Eat Little Fish alludes to the food chain and is proverbial, like many works of that time. We literally witness the powerful swallowing the weak in our world.

• The painting is signed by Peter Van der Heyden and Hieronymus Bosch, who died in 1516. Bosch's signature was likely placed by Hieronymus Cock (Bruegel’s employer) to capitalize on Bosch's fame, as Bosch heavily influenced Bruegel.

The Beekeepers (1568)

In this work, Bruegel explores the complicity of human nature—there is always someone after another. Here, the man climbing the tree is seen as a nest robber. The beekeepers “rob” bees of their honey, just as the bees extract nectar from flowers. In turn, Bruegel, as an artist, “steals” from nature. It’s a chain of predators and victims. The beekeepers, who hide their faces, suggest the desire to keep their actions private, even on a sunny day.

The Painter and The Buyer

This drawing is a satire on human ignorance and folly. Although the painting is outside the frame, we can assume it’s of high value, as the merchant immediately reaches for his money bag. The work critiques the desire to possess without truly understanding what is possessed.

• The painter is thought to be a self-portrait of Bruegel.

The merchant’s glasses imply his shortsightedness—both mental and physical—emphasizing that he and the painter do not share the same artistic vision.

Children’s Game (1560)

This painting supposedly depicts more than 200 children engaged in various games of the time. Childhood was not seen as a separate phase of life, but rather as a preliminary stage to adulthood. Children were treated as little adults, which is reflected in their clothing—similar to that of grown-ups. Moreover, they had few toys and mostly played with whatever they could find. There was little emotional affection compared to today, due to the large number of children being born into families, with many dying early. As a result, parents often did not form deep emotional attachments. The children in the painting appear rather ageless and expressionless, which contrasts with the way children would be depicted in later centuries.

Two Monkeys (1562)

We see two monkeys looking out the window of what looks like a prison. In the distance, we see the city of Antwerp. The monkey’s feet are chained and around them there’s nutshells scattered. The nutshells likely refer to the Netherlandish proverb - to go to a court for the sake of a hazelnut, which means risk one’s freedom for something unimportant. Furthermore, in Christian iconography the monkeys are mostly associated with miserliness and stupidity.

Netherlandish Proverbs (1559)

This painting is fascinating, it’s a visual representation of more than a 100 of the Netherlandish proverbs of Bruegel’s time. Oftentimes, when we confusedly look at a painting and attribute its depictions to the artist's hallucinations, it is actually a narrative based on proverbs.

Here’s the analysis of some of the proverbs:

• The coins on the rooftop allude to the paradise of the fools - the land of plenty.
• The bride and the groom, in the window, marrying over a broomstick is about a quasi-marriage.
• The knife hanging out is some sort of a challenging situation.
• The people, in the window once again, leading each other by their noses symbolizes deceit.
• The way the cards fall represents reliance on fate, or a chance.
• The guy, with a bandage around his ear, pissing against the flag with the moon is a proverb about trying to do the impossible - as in trying to shoot for the moon.
• The upside down sphere/globe is a topsy turvy world.
• A man biting a pole is a hypocrite, and a woman carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in another is about the dual nature of a human, or the good and the bad.
• A woman covering a man with a blue mantle alludes to cheating or deception.
• The well dressed man spinning a sphere on his thumb is to have the world at your feet.
• The man trying to put his spilled porridge back into the pot is a wasteful effort.
• The man stretching from one loaf to the other is about hardly being able to make ends meet, or not knowing how to stay within budget.

And so on…

Mad Meg/Dulle Griet (1562)

Dulle Griet (or Dull Gret, in its anglicized form) is a figure from Flemish folklore. She led a group of peasant women, clad in armor, into battle against the forces of Hell. In Bruegel's depiction, she strides unshakably and bluntly through chaos, undeterred by the gruesome creatures, heading toward the mouth of Hell. Dulle Griet represents a nearly absurd level of bravery, often symbolizing the rebellious spirit of common people, particularly women, against societal constraints and oppression.