Jan-Maat’s Reviews > Pieter Bruegel. Sämtliche Gemälde > Status Update

Dulle Griet
This amazing painting was bought in 1600 by the Hapsburgs, taken to Prague where from it was plundered by the Swedes in the 30 years war. It vanishes from the Swedish roysl collection in the 17th century, reappears in cologne in 1894 when Fritz Mayer van den Bergh bought it fir the bargain price of 390 marks and took it to Antwerp.

Children's games.
The final section of the book is a register of each of Brueghel's known pictures.

Although he was a celebrated artist even a couple of generations after his death. I am amazed to read that the ownership history of the works is extremely patchy. This one materialises in 1594 when the Hapsburg archduke buys it and it stays in that families possession going from Brussels to Prague to Vienna

Discussion of interpretation of Bruegel's "the blind leading the blind".

My question is, does the artist have convictions that they are trying to share with us, or are they market/patron orientated and depicting something that they think will sell or please a patron?

I don't think that this question is answerable in the case of Bruegel ( or if it is the author has not demonstrated that).

A criticism that I have about this book is with the layout. On this page and the next fir exanpke there is a detail from 'the conversion of paul' . I like the paunting a lot and I am glad to see the detail but the text is about completely different pictures!

Perhaps I am mis-remembering but my impression is that books in the 'world of art' series do better in having the matching text for the picrure.

Reproduction of the flight to Egypt 1563. 1stly there is no way this is a reasonable illustration of the landscape the holy family would have passed through. So what's the point? An indulgent landscape to be enjoyed by the purchaser with a religious motive forcthecsake of appearances? Or is ut tge opposite, a la Caravaggio, an assertion of the universality of the gosoel story?