BRUEGHEL THE ELDER, Pieter, Prudence from The World of Seven Virtues, c.1559
Pieter Brueghel (1525-69), usually known as Pieter Brueghel the Elder to distinguish him from his elder son, was the first in a family of Flemish p… [Read biography »]
Signed Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525 - 1569), Original Engraving, Prudence from The World of Seven Virtues, c.1559  |
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| Artist: | Brueghel the Elder, Pieter (1525 - 1569) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Prudence from The World of Seven Virtues, c.1559 |
| Medium: | Original Engraving |
| Image Size: | 11 1/2 in x 8 7/8 in (29.2 cm x 22.6 cm) |
| Sheet Size: | 11 5/8 in x 9 in (29.5 cm x 22.9 cm) |
| Framed Size: | 28 3/4 in x 26 1/8 in (73 cm x 66.4 cm) |
| Signed: | The signature of Bruegel is inscribed in the lower right: 'Bruegel Inuentor.' |
| Edition: | A lifetime impression from the only state of two by Philips Galle based on an original work by Pieter Bruegel |
| Condition: | This work is in excellent condition - a fine, dark impression. With large margins all around |
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| Description: | |
Taken from Bruegel’s series of “The World of Seven Virtues,” Prudence is represented here as an allegorical figure, personifying one of the cardinal virtues to living a wholesome, meaningful life. Full of intricate detail, this panorama of several characters serve to represent varying examples of forms of prudence. According to H. Arthur Klein: Prudence stands on, under, and next to objects symbolizing various kinds of such desirable wisdom: On her head she carries a sieve or colander; in her hand she holds a mirror; against her shoulder leans a long slender coffin. Each of these objects suggests a different aspect of prudence: the sieve or colander – the sifting out of good from evil, rejecting the bad, retaining that which makes for a life of virtue; the coffin – the inevitable death that awaits all men, in awareness of which they should live each day prudently; the mirror – self-knowledge. (128) Created c. 1559, Prudence features the following inscription in the lower margin: SI PRVDENS ESSE CVPIS, IN FVTVRVM PROSPECTVM IN OSTENDE, ET | QVAE POSSVNT CONTINGERE, ANIMO TVO CVNCTA PROPONE (If you wish to be prudent, thin always of the future and keep everything in the forefront of your mind) . The signature of Bruegel is inscribed in cartouche in the lower right: ‘Bruegel Inuentor’ with PRVDENTIA (Prudence) in the lower center, with ‘H. cock excu’ in the lower left. A lifetime impression from the only state of two by Philips Galle based on an original work by Pieter Bruegel featuring the inscribed text plate along the lower margin on watermarked paper dating the piece to c. 1559 – 1591 (Gothic P with Flower, Br. 8715 - 8723) . Catalogue Raisonné & COA: 1. Bastelaer, René van. The Prints of Peter Bruegel the Elder, Catalogue Raisonné New Edition, Alan Wofsy Fine Arts: San Francisco, 1992. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 136 on pgs. 182-3. 2. Briquet, C.M. Les Filigranes, Dictionnaire Historique des Marques du Papier, Tome III L-O. Verlag: Leipzig, 1923. Watermark listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 8715 – 8723 on pg. 468. 3. Klein, H. Arthur. Graphic Worlds of Peter Bruegel the Elder, Dover Publications: New York, 1963. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 52 on pgs. 128-9. 4. Orenstein, Nadine M., ed. for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints, Yale University Press: New Haven, 2001. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné nos. 68-9 on pgs. 182-3 with further footnote reference on pg. 193. 5. Sellink, M. Pieter Bruegel: The Complete Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Ludion: NY, 2007. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 91 on pg. 149. Detail on preparatory drawing for Prudence is listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 82 on pg. 140. About the Framing: | |
Biography of Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525 - 1569)
Pieter Brueghel (1525-69), usually known as Pieter Brueghel the Elder to distinguish him from his elder son, was the first in a family of Flemish painters. You'll often find his name spelled as Bruegel (Pieter spelled it like that from 1559 onwards) or Breugel or Breughel.
He was born in Breda in the Duchy of Brabant, which is now part of The Netherlands but back then part of the Flanders.
Note: Flanders or Vlaanderen and the Netherlands (aka known as Holland) or Nederland share the same language. It's called Flemish, or "Vlaams" in Belgium and Dutch, or "Nederlands" in The Netherlands. And the name Holland, although it's often taken to mean the whole of the Netherlands, is really part of that country only, the area of the provinces called Zuid Holland and Noord Holland (South and North Holland).
Brueghel was accepted as a master in the Antwerp painters' guild in 1551, after being an apprentice of Coecke van Aelst, a leading Antwerp artist, sculptor, architect, and designer of tapestry and stained glass. Brueghel traveled to Italy in 1551 or 1552, completing a number of paintings, mostly landscapes, there. Returning home in 1553, he settled in Antwerp but ten years later moved permanently to Brussels. He married van Aelst's daughter, Mayken, in 1563. His paintings, including his landscapes and scenes of peasant life, stress the absurd and vulgar, yet are full of zest and fine detail. They also expose human weaknesses and follies. He was sometimes called the Peasant Brueghel. But it was in nature that he found his greatest inspiration. His mountain landscapes have few parallels in European art. Popular in his own day, Bruegel engravings and paintings have remained consistently popular. Brueghel died in Brussels on Sept. 9, 1569.
