Discover the complete works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the most significant artist of Flemish Renaissance painting. Marking the 450th anniversary of his death and his first ever monographic exhibition at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, this XXL monograph gathers all 40 paintings, 65 drawings, and 89 engravings—each piece a unique witness to both the religious mores and the close-knit folk culture of Bruegel’s time.
Müller holds the chair of Early Modern and Modern Art History at the Technical University of Dresden. He studied art history at the universities of Bochum, Münster, Pisa, Paris and Amsterdam, and has worked as an art critic and curated numerous exhibitions. He is also the editor of TASCHEN’s movies by decade series.
Brilliant written, with strong analysis of all Bruegel’s major works. The authors write clearly and in depth, going into great details on the iconography and semiotics of Bruegel’s work, contextualizing it in terms of the Flemish culture of the day, the Reformation, and Bruegel’s influences from earlier Flemish painters as well as his legacy on his successors. The section on the development of his drawings was particularly enlightening. The plates are absolutely gorgeous and the enlarged details are carefully and illustratively chosen.
This book has catapulted Bruegel to the very top of my list of favourite painters. It would be almost impossible to read through this tour of the artist’s many and various works without concluding that he was, in every sense of the phrase, an artistic genius. I had no idea that his pieces were bursting with such allegorical meaning and nuance- indeed, my appreciation of Bruegel’s work prior to this book was one of pure aesthetic admiration. I now see that a vast majority of his paintings were not only visually stunning but were charged with political and theological commentary, some of which taking centuries for art critics to decipher. I found myself relating to the themes which he so tastefully expounds, despite the fact that our lives are separated by some five hundred years. For instance, he clearly felt a severe revulsion for the needless killing of both humans and animals, depicting scenes which, in some cases quite covertly, represent satirical jabs at the religious zealots and autocratic bullies of his age. He was not afraid to level criticism at both the catholic and protestant contingents and can be truly said to have been a man of his convictions. His landscapes, whilst fantastical, are immensely beautiful and anticipate the romantic mountains and valleys that would take form in the works of Friedrich or Constable. What is most fascinating about his work is his ability to couch well known narratives into a contemporary (by his standards) setting. Indeed, the rendering of biblical scenes in an extremely Flemish backdrop never ceases to delight the eye. The author does an excellent job of interpreting the underlying symbolism of the pieces, with an elegant writing style. Five stars.