In this work, the painter depicts a landscape with compositional and stylistic characteristics that recall two small panels, The Sacrifice of Abraham (Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva) and Forest (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie in Vienna), painted by Jan Brueghel the Elder around 1604–1610. It is possible that he painted this work in the summer of 1604 during his stay at t
Jan Brueghel el Viejo fue uno de los creadores de la pintura de gabinete, que comienza a consolidarse como tal en el siglo XVII. Magnífico pintor de paisajes, se especializó también en la representación de naturalezas muertas, de bodegones y de floreros. Esta pequeña tabla es una muestra de su habilidad como artista al conseguir, con apenas unos toques de blanco, la transparencia del jarrón de cri
The inclusion of insects in floral still lifes gave them a powerful sense of reality and lifelikeness. Here Brueghel also included a frog and an object that may be an egg or possibly a bezoar, a concretion found in the intestines of certain animals which was believed to have curative powers.
A plate with corners resting on a blue cloth bears roses and other flowers. This late work shows the clear influence of Daniel Seghers.
Tres rosas y cinco tulipanes se combinan con florecillas de Narcissus tazetta y Myosotis scorpioides; una coccinela, una mariposa, un insecto y un gusano dan vida a este conjunto que repite, con variantes, los originales de Brueghel de Velours en las colecciones R. Green de Londres, Wingfield castle, y colección Turkow de la Haya. El gusano, los capullos, crisálidas y mariposas que, recién nacida
This forest corresponds to one of the typologies that Jan Brueghel the Elder pioneered around 1605 and that he developed over the course of that decade. The painting depicts a well-travelled path through a forest, leading to a village discernible on the horizon. A small stream crosses the path. The painter intends for the viewer to experience the interior of the forest, thus offering several possi
Highwaymen seem to have stopped a wagon with travelers in the midst of a barren landscape. More wagons and travelers on foot appear along the trail in the background. This work is difficult to interpret. It may just as well represent a violent assault as a simple everyday scene in a landscape. At any rate, it shows how Brueghel composed this sort of scene on the basis of various planes that reach
In this painting, Ceres, goddess of agriculture and fertility, is surrounded by fruits and flowers, pictured as the personification of Abundance holding the horn of plenty in her hands. The history of the horn of plenty is taken from two texts by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE-CE 17/18), Metamorphoses (IX, 80-100) and Book of Days (V, 121-24). The idea of prosperity is completed by the personificatio
Surrounded by courtesans and hunting servants, the governors of the Spanish Low Countries, Archduke Alberto and Archduchess Isabel, rest in the shade of a large poplar tree during one of their hunts. One of their favorite residences, Mariemont Palace, near Brussels, is visible in the background. Brueghel offers a precise, almost topographical rendering of the landscape, including certain elements
A wedding procession moves towards the church in a rural setting. The male members of both families lead the procession, headed by the groom. The flower in his hand is clearly a symbol of matrimony. The bride remains among the women. Both wear black clothing and a broad ruff collar, in keeping with early seventeenth-century style. The artist draws on the work of his father, Pieter Brueghel “the El
This panel depicts a bouquet of tulips, roses and irises in a small porcelain vase. On the table is an insect, a sprig of leaves and more flowers. The blue and white porcelain vase is from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, China, and was made for export.
Abundance, personified by Ceres, goddess of fertility and agriculture, sits in front of a thicket of reeds at the edge of a forest. She has adorned her hair with wheat spikes -her attribute- and bears the horn of plenty under her left arm. Earth sits at her feet, offering her one of her fruits, she is personified by Flora, goddess of the earth and also of spring, which explains the flowers in her
Alberto de Austria, the sovereign prince of the Low Countries, is dressed in black and sits under a canopy indicating that this is a court portrait. Unlike the customary indoor portraits, this one is set on a balcony open to a landscape that includes Tervuren Palace, near Brussels. This portrait, and that of his wife, Isabel Clara (P01684), seeks not only to bring out the figure of the Archduke, b