BRUEGHEL THE ELDER, Pieter, Justice 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 »]
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525 - 1569), Original Engraving, Justice from The World of Seven Virtues, c.1559  |
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| Artist: | Brueghel the Elder, Pieter (1525 - 1569) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Justice from The World of Seven Virtues, c.1559 |
| Medium: | Original Engraving |
| Image Size: | 11 1/8 in x 8 5/8 in (28.3 cm x 21.5 cm) |
| Sheet Size: | 11 1/8 in x 8 5/8 in (28.3 cm x 21.5 cm) |
| Framed Size: | 28 3/4 in x 26 1/8 in (73 cm x 66.4 cm) |
| 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 very good condition, a fine dark impression! |
Price :Item# 2097 | $17,000 Happy New Year! To speak directly with the Director, Alex Adelman, please call (510) 777-9970 / 1-800-805-7060. |
| Description: | |
From the Seven Virtues series, this work illustrates the artist’s interpretation of justice with a high degree of detail and line work. Intricately composed with a wealth of imagery, a mass of figures abound throughout the image. Engraved in c. 1559, this piece is printed on a fine laid paper with a strong black impression. This work is engraved in reverse of a drawing dated 1559 in the Royal Library, Brussels. 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) . Said of this work, “Justice on a pedestal carries a sword and is blindfolded. She is presiding over the varied punishments ordered by a court that seems pitiless rather than merciful. All the legal practices of the sixteenth century are re-enacted before our eyes: torture, mutilation, whipping, strappado, beheading, hanging, the rack, and burning at the stake.” (Lavalleye 201) The lower text of the image translates as saying, The aim of law is either to correct him who is punished, or to improve others by his punishment, or to provide that others live more securely by removing wrongdoers. Catalogue Raisonné & COA: 1. van Bastelaer, René, The Prints of Peter Bruegel the Elder, 1992, image listed as plate 135 on page 180. 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, 1963, image listed as plate 51 on page 233, discussion on pages 231-232. 4. Lavalleye, Jacques, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, image listed as Bruegel 65. 5. Longstreet, Stephen, A Treasury of the World’s Great Prints, 1961, listed as image 21 on page 46. 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.
