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Bruegel. The Complete Paintings
The life and times of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1526/30–1569) were marked by stark cultural conflict. He witnessed religious wars, the Duke of Alba’s brutal rule as governor of the Netherlands, and the palpable effects of the Inquisition. To this day, the Flemish artist remains shrouded in mystery. We know neither where nor exactly when he was born. But while early scholarship emphasized the vernacular character of his painting and graphic work, modern research has attached greater importance to its humanistic content.
Starting out as a print designer for publisher Hieronymus Cock, Bruegel produced numerous print series that were distributed throughout Europe. These depicted vices and virtues alongside jolly peasant festivals and sweeping landscape panoramas. He then increasingly turned to painting, working for the cultural elite of Antwerp and Brussels. Rather than idealizing reality, he bravely confronted the issues of his day, addressing the horrors of religious warfare and taking a critical stand against the institution of the Church. To this end, Bruegel developed his own pictorial language of dissidence, lacing innocuous everyday scenes with subliminal statements in order to escape repercussions.
This book is derived from our XXL monograph, which saw TASCHEN undertake a comprehensive photographic survey of the artist’s oeuvre. The result boasts exceptional details and reproductions, unveiling Bruegel’s larger-than-life universe with unprecedented clarity. This volume, in celebration of our 40th anniversary, presents all 40 paintings, accompanied by enlarged details and accessible, immersive texts.
Starting out as a print designer for publisher Hieronymus Cock, Bruegel produced numerous print series that were distributed throughout Europe. These depicted vices and virtues alongside jolly peasant festivals and sweeping landscape panoramas. He then increasingly turned to painting, working for the cultural elite of Antwerp and Brussels. Rather than idealizing reality, he bravely confronted the issues of his day, addressing the horrors of religious warfare and taking a critical stand against the institution of the Church. To this end, Bruegel developed his own pictorial language of dissidence, lacing innocuous everyday scenes with subliminal statements in order to escape repercussions.
This book is derived from our XXL monograph, which saw TASCHEN undertake a comprehensive photographic survey of the artist’s oeuvre. The result boasts exceptional details and reproductions, unveiling Bruegel’s larger-than-life universe with unprecedented clarity. This volume, in celebration of our 40th anniversary, presents all 40 paintings, accompanied by enlarged details and accessible, immersive texts.
510 pages, Hardcover
Published July 28, 2020
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December 5, 2025Walter S. Gibbons' book about Bruegel was the first book about art or an artist that I ever bought. Not a a particular radical or exciting choice for sure, but something spoke to me, perhaps the sense of narrative, the thick set figures, or maybe even the subdued colours.
So I was delighted to be given this Taschen volume as a gift.
1. This a beautiful book, richly illustrated, full of colour
1.2 I was surprised that it's publisher, Taschen, has only been around for forty years or so, I had no idea that they were so recent a foundation.
2. Here follow various petty complaints
2.2 the design of the book is not clever, the text and the illustrations don't match up well. Some paintings are illustrated in detail, while the text deals with a different painting in detail - which isn't so well illustrated; is this a question of design, or about the right to reproduce certain images?
2.3 still I was glad in the close ups of the painting of the conversion of Paul to actual see the figure of Paul, whichbI don't think I actually could see in Vienna - you can't get close enough to the paintings for fear of triggering the alarm which tells you in four or five languages to back away from the art.
3.there is a catalogue of Bruegel's paintings: 44 works including 4 copies (although the originals are lost). This section of text has a quite small illustration of the painting. It does tell you which institution owns the work and there is a brief discussion of it.
3.1 Most of the text is made up of nine thematic essays which deal with Bruegel's ouevre in groups.
3.2 I found that part of the text, I don't know quite how to express it; over certain maybe, or over interpreted. For example Müller states that Bruegel's five paintings dealing with the seaons of the year (Hunters in the Snow, The Return of the Herd, the harvesters, the hay harvest, and the gloomy day) are all in fact about the Apocalypse. In case you doubr this in two of those painting you can see a rainbow. Meaning no disrespect to Noah, but rainbows are not exactly an unusual phenomena in north-western europe, perhaps they were even more common in the early stages of the so called little ice age which was getting under way at that time. Or in the case of the painting of the blind leadi g the blind we are told that it is definately meant to be interpreted as a religious allegory because of the church steepke visible over a hedge row, it is still not an unusual sight to see a church steeple in the European skyline. It is not that I would dare to disagree, or that I have some other interpretation. Still I would have prefered if the language was more circumspect.
4. The problem is that despite two early biographies about him Bruegel is an obscure figure. It is still unknown where he was born or when he was born. We don't have his personal writings, we don't know who the first purchasers of his paintings were. His work is a field open to interpretation relatively untroubled by evidence.
4.1 much of his art is religious, but not in the conventional way of an earlier generation. Perhaps it is best suited to an age of reformation and persecution when it was best if nobody knew what you were thinking.
4.2 some of his painting are secular, even mysteriously so like the triumph of Death - which put me in mind of Hans Holbein's the dance of death.
4.3 the histories of the paintings caught my attention. The Hapsburgs were keen Bruegel collectors and did a good job of kerping hold of the ones they acquired -so Vienna is the best place to visit to pay your respect to a Bruegel painting, however others obscurely disappeared grom record for hundreds of years and quite a few were bought and reached their current homrs at the end of the nineteenth century or beginning of the twentieth. I find it odd to imagine that circa 1900 people were still able to buy Bruegel paintings from dealers. The Hapsburgs missed the opportunity to buy even more of his paintings.
5. Mysteriously pleasing, a great book.
So I was delighted to be given this Taschen volume as a gift.
1. This a beautiful book, richly illustrated, full of colour
1.2 I was surprised that it's publisher, Taschen, has only been around for forty years or so, I had no idea that they were so recent a foundation.
2. Here follow various petty complaints
2.2 the design of the book is not clever, the text and the illustrations don't match up well. Some paintings are illustrated in detail, while the text deals with a different painting in detail - which isn't so well illustrated; is this a question of design, or about the right to reproduce certain images?
2.3 still I was glad in the close ups of the painting of the conversion of Paul to actual see the figure of Paul, whichbI don't think I actually could see in Vienna - you can't get close enough to the paintings for fear of triggering the alarm which tells you in four or five languages to back away from the art.
3.there is a catalogue of Bruegel's paintings: 44 works including 4 copies (although the originals are lost). This section of text has a quite small illustration of the painting. It does tell you which institution owns the work and there is a brief discussion of it.
3.1 Most of the text is made up of nine thematic essays which deal with Bruegel's ouevre in groups.
3.2 I found that part of the text, I don't know quite how to express it; over certain maybe, or over interpreted. For example Müller states that Bruegel's five paintings dealing with the seaons of the year (Hunters in the Snow, The Return of the Herd, the harvesters, the hay harvest, and the gloomy day) are all in fact about the Apocalypse. In case you doubr this in two of those painting you can see a rainbow. Meaning no disrespect to Noah, but rainbows are not exactly an unusual phenomena in north-western europe, perhaps they were even more common in the early stages of the so called little ice age which was getting under way at that time. Or in the case of the painting of the blind leadi g the blind we are told that it is definately meant to be interpreted as a religious allegory because of the church steepke visible over a hedge row, it is still not an unusual sight to see a church steeple in the European skyline. It is not that I would dare to disagree, or that I have some other interpretation. Still I would have prefered if the language was more circumspect.
4. The problem is that despite two early biographies about him Bruegel is an obscure figure. It is still unknown where he was born or when he was born. We don't have his personal writings, we don't know who the first purchasers of his paintings were. His work is a field open to interpretation relatively untroubled by evidence.
4.1 much of his art is religious, but not in the conventional way of an earlier generation. Perhaps it is best suited to an age of reformation and persecution when it was best if nobody knew what you were thinking.
4.2 some of his painting are secular, even mysteriously so like the triumph of Death - which put me in mind of Hans Holbein's the dance of death.
4.3 the histories of the paintings caught my attention. The Hapsburgs were keen Bruegel collectors and did a good job of kerping hold of the ones they acquired -so Vienna is the best place to visit to pay your respect to a Bruegel painting, however others obscurely disappeared grom record for hundreds of years and quite a few were bought and reached their current homrs at the end of the nineteenth century or beginning of the twentieth. I find it odd to imagine that circa 1900 people were still able to buy Bruegel paintings from dealers. The Hapsburgs missed the opportunity to buy even more of his paintings.
5. Mysteriously pleasing, a great book.
March 17, 2025
Das ist keiner der üblichen bunt bebilderten Taschen-Bildbände. Das ist eine anspruchsvolle Exegese zu den wichtigsten Werken und ein vollständiger Katalog. Ungemein Erhellend und inspirierend.
August 5, 2022
Bruegel is (along with Sean Keating) my favorite painter. Only about 40 of his paintings survive, a small number for a major artist, and I find every one of them to be compelling, both as art and as statement. I've had a chance to see over half in person, and each one was a moving experience for me.
In this book, Muller does an excellent job of bringing these paintings to life. The color pages are beautiful copies of the work, and many of Bruegel's drawings are also discussed here. Muller does not shy away from interpretation, comparing Bruegel to other artists of his time and to the theological views of the time that likely impacted Bruegel's choices. The book was an interesting read that sets Bruegel's work in its larger context, which is difficult because we know so little about him.
Muller's work here is not perfect. He makes mistakes when venturing into supplemental territory. For example, he states the common myth that Calvin had Michael Servetus burned at the stake. Calvin did not have that authority, and served as only a witness at the trial regarding Servetus' views. The council of the city of Geneva made the decision to execute Servetus at a time when Calvin was not even a full citizen of the city. Muller is not a religious scholar, so some of these are minor issues, but they are still inaccuracies.
This volume does have one big problem, which is common to all larger Taschen volumes, and therefore not the fault of the author. These big Taschen books are very poorly organized. The reader is constantly asked to hold their finger in one page while searching for another, made more difficult by the inexplicable decision not to number all of the pages. The thing is, much of this is not necessary. There is often no discernible reason that certain images are placed 100 pages apart from the discussion on that image. It seems simple to me that better editing is possible.
On the whole, I loved this book, and I'll cherish it and revisit it. A great breakdown of Bruegel's paintings.
In this book, Muller does an excellent job of bringing these paintings to life. The color pages are beautiful copies of the work, and many of Bruegel's drawings are also discussed here. Muller does not shy away from interpretation, comparing Bruegel to other artists of his time and to the theological views of the time that likely impacted Bruegel's choices. The book was an interesting read that sets Bruegel's work in its larger context, which is difficult because we know so little about him.
Muller's work here is not perfect. He makes mistakes when venturing into supplemental territory. For example, he states the common myth that Calvin had Michael Servetus burned at the stake. Calvin did not have that authority, and served as only a witness at the trial regarding Servetus' views. The council of the city of Geneva made the decision to execute Servetus at a time when Calvin was not even a full citizen of the city. Muller is not a religious scholar, so some of these are minor issues, but they are still inaccuracies.
This volume does have one big problem, which is common to all larger Taschen volumes, and therefore not the fault of the author. These big Taschen books are very poorly organized. The reader is constantly asked to hold their finger in one page while searching for another, made more difficult by the inexplicable decision not to number all of the pages. The thing is, much of this is not necessary. There is often no discernible reason that certain images are placed 100 pages apart from the discussion on that image. It seems simple to me that better editing is possible.
On the whole, I loved this book, and I'll cherish it and revisit it. A great breakdown of Bruegel's paintings.
June 4, 2023
Sehr detailliert mit allen Gemälden von Bruegel und viele Informationen über einen Künstler über den es nur wenige Informationen gibt. Für den Einstieg in Bruegels Kunst könnten 500 Seiten sehr abschreckend wirken. Für Leute die sich jedoch tiefergehend informieren wollen ist das Buch perfekt. Auch zum Nachschlagen und ansehen der Bilder eignet es sich ziemlich gut.
February 15, 2021
Amazing book, definitely recommended! It is very helpful to understand historical background and some interesting details about Bruegel's paintings. The quality of the paper and images is pretty good. If you are interested in Bruegel's artworks, then you should check this book.
August 20, 2021
"Things like this make me happy. Bruegel, Hogarth and Goya have that metaphysics of the concrete that is also my goal." - Max Beckmann, 1919
This is quite frankly an extraordinary publication and I am grieved by the fact that I only have the small 40 Taschen anniversary version and its the XXL counterpart. Where to begin? The quality of the publication is just amazing. Bruegel's work is so profoundly inspiring and moving. I keep going back to countless of his pictures and I am surprised each time by new features and details that I had not looked at or interpreted before. To be honest, while I knew a few of his pictures, most notably The Tower of Babel, I did not actually know anything about Bruegel or his work. He work is quite simply impressive. With this book one may have the privilege to enjoy his masterpieces. As for the scholarly work; while it is indubitably an ambitious claim to say that Bruegel (1525-1569) is an enlightenment thinker and artist, I must admit that after reading Prof. Müller's careful analysis that it is clear to me that Bruegel is certainly far beyond his age and even speaks directly to us post-modern folk. A simple example is the fact that Bruegel seems to criticise any fundamentalist sects within religion and even goes as far as portraying the salvation of all souls (Drawing; The Final Judgment). Having praised the book and the work of Prof. Müller, I would like to add that sometimes, it does seems as if he goes too far in his analysis of the paintings, and does he seems perhaps too adamant to find a critique of either Protestantism or Catholicism in almost each painting. Whether Prof. Müller is justified in this focus is a matter of discussion as he himself admits.
This is quite frankly an extraordinary publication and I am grieved by the fact that I only have the small 40 Taschen anniversary version and its the XXL counterpart. Where to begin? The quality of the publication is just amazing. Bruegel's work is so profoundly inspiring and moving. I keep going back to countless of his pictures and I am surprised each time by new features and details that I had not looked at or interpreted before. To be honest, while I knew a few of his pictures, most notably The Tower of Babel, I did not actually know anything about Bruegel or his work. He work is quite simply impressive. With this book one may have the privilege to enjoy his masterpieces. As for the scholarly work; while it is indubitably an ambitious claim to say that Bruegel (1525-1569) is an enlightenment thinker and artist, I must admit that after reading Prof. Müller's careful analysis that it is clear to me that Bruegel is certainly far beyond his age and even speaks directly to us post-modern folk. A simple example is the fact that Bruegel seems to criticise any fundamentalist sects within religion and even goes as far as portraying the salvation of all souls (Drawing; The Final Judgment). Having praised the book and the work of Prof. Müller, I would like to add that sometimes, it does seems as if he goes too far in his analysis of the paintings, and does he seems perhaps too adamant to find a critique of either Protestantism or Catholicism in almost each painting. Whether Prof. Müller is justified in this focus is a matter of discussion as he himself admits.
March 28, 2021
Favourite artist
August 11, 2025
Has quickly become one of my most treasured books. Gorgeous edition, beautiful reproductions, only wish I’d bought the XL or XXL version to better scrutinize the minutiae of Brugel’s masterpieces.
January 26, 2026
Snow. I'll get to that later.
First, I am not a painter. I am a collector. My walls are covered with art. Some were gifts. Others were finds. One was from an auction. All of them provide delight. The portrait in oils of a yellow fishing boat is moored by the fireplace. The botanical illustrations of wild flowers climb the bedroom wall together as if it were a sunlit hill. Seascapes and forests brought respite during lockdowns in the pandemic. A bridge in Venice takes me back in time as it did when I walked there. Snow was all that was missing. Then, a few months ago I found one for my walls. It shows a street where a friend of mine once lived. The street is popular with tourists. The amber shops are here. Though none of that matters. What won me over is the snow. Other images, even postcards, during the day or night show it in summer. This was a winter scene.
I put it up above a couch where my husband likes to stretch. Snow silhouettes the buildings. It cushions the cobble streets. It lights up evenings. And it slows down steps. I see it and could be looking out my windows. Snow here. Snow there. And snow, in the pages of this book.
Bruegel does snow best. But I've had enough of winter. I want to go out without slipping. I don't need reminders of what I can see from my windows. Time for a book with different pictures from this one for now.
First, I am not a painter. I am a collector. My walls are covered with art. Some were gifts. Others were finds. One was from an auction. All of them provide delight. The portrait in oils of a yellow fishing boat is moored by the fireplace. The botanical illustrations of wild flowers climb the bedroom wall together as if it were a sunlit hill. Seascapes and forests brought respite during lockdowns in the pandemic. A bridge in Venice takes me back in time as it did when I walked there. Snow was all that was missing. Then, a few months ago I found one for my walls. It shows a street where a friend of mine once lived. The street is popular with tourists. The amber shops are here. Though none of that matters. What won me over is the snow. Other images, even postcards, during the day or night show it in summer. This was a winter scene.
I put it up above a couch where my husband likes to stretch. Snow silhouettes the buildings. It cushions the cobble streets. It lights up evenings. And it slows down steps. I see it and could be looking out my windows. Snow here. Snow there. And snow, in the pages of this book.
Bruegel does snow best. But I've had enough of winter. I want to go out without slipping. I don't need reminders of what I can see from my windows. Time for a book with different pictures from this one for now.
November 14, 2024
I do not normally write a review of art books, but I will make an exception here. Bruegel has always been one of my favorite Northern Renaissance artists and I am still amazed by how long I can spend just by going over the details of a single Bruegel painting. We recently had the good fortune to visit the Kunstmuseum in Vienna which has a large collection of Bruegel paintings and I was hooked. The museum shop did not have English copies of this collection of Bruegel paintings, so I had to go elsewhere. The paintings on their own are striking to look at, especially seeing a series of them in the same room, as in Vienna. Add to that the ability to constantly find nuance in the people and scenes he painted - nuance on multiple levels - oddness, sarcasm, social critique. Finally the supporting materials in this book are helpful in putting Bruegel in context with his contemporaries, both Flemish and Italian, at a time of controversy throughout Europe.
December 20, 2021
A fascinating examination of one of my favourite artists. I will be returning to this book often to look at the images and close-ups of the chaotic details. The analysis and historical context is informative.
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