Brueghel the Elder, Pieter, Charity 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 »]
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Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Original Engraving, Charity from The World of Seven Virtues, c. 1559  |
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| Artist: | Brueghel the Elder, Pieter (1525 - 1569) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Charity from The World of Seven Virtues, c. 1559 |
| Medium: | Original Engraving |
| Image Size: | 11 3/8 in x 8 1/2 in (28.9 cm x 21.6 cm) |
| Sheet Size: | 11 3/8 in x 8 1/2 in (28.9 cm x 21.6 cm) |
| Framed Size: | 28 3/4 in x 26 1/8 in (73 cm x 66.4 cm) |
| Signed: | The signature and date of Bruegel is inscribed in cartouche in the lower right: 'BRVEGEL. 1559.' With 'H. cock excu.' in cartouche in the lower left |
| Edition: | From the only state of two by Philips Galle after Pieter Bruegel featuring the inscribed text plate along the lower margin |
| Condition: | This work is in good condition and backed on fine, laid paper with minor corner repairs not affecting the image; a rich, dark impression |
Price :Item# 2099 | $17,000  To speak directly with the Director, Alex Adelman, please call (510) 777-9970 / 1-800-805-7060. |
| Description: | |
Taken from Bruegel’s series of “The World of Seven Virtues,” Charity is personified as the ultimate compassionate giver, who is surrounded by acts of charity and supreme examples of kindness. There are various vignettes of charitable interactions throughout the composition, making this piece full of energy, movement, and love. According to H. Arthur Klein: “The allegorical figure of Charity here is a woman whose face bespeaks kindness and consideration. The warm humanity in her expression comes through even more effectively in the original drawing. She holds in her hand a heart aflame (a contrast to the allegorical figure for the sin of Envy who eats her heart out) ” (p. 124) . Created c. 1559, Charity was engraved by Philips Galle, based on an original drawing by Pieter Bruegel featuring the following inscription in the lower margin: SPERES TIBI ACCIDERE QVOD ALTERI ACCIDIT, ITA DEMVM EXCITABERIS AD OPEM FERENDAM / SI SVMPSERIS EIVS ANIMV QVI OPEM TVNC IN MALIS CONSTITVTVS IMPLORAT (Expect what happens to others to happen to you; you will then and not till then be aroused to offer help only if you make your own the feelings of the man who appeals for help in the midst of adversity) . The signature of Bruegel is inscribed in cartouche in the lower right: ‘BRVEGEL. 1559’ With ‘H. cock excude.’ in cartouche in the lower left. The latin, CHARITAS (Charity) is also inscribed in cartouche in the lower center. 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. 134 on pgs. 178-9. 2. Klein, H. Arthur. Graphic Worlds of Peter Bruegel the Elder, Dover Publications: New York, 1963. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 50 on pgs. 124-5. 3. 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. 66-7 on pgs. 180-1. 4. Sellink, M. Pieter Bruegel: The Complete Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Ludion: NY, 2007. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 89 on pg. 147. Detail on preparatory drawing for Charity is listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 82 on pg. 140. About the Framing: | |
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Biography of Pieter Brueghel the Elder
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 prints have remained consistently popular. Pieter Brueghel the Elder died in Brussels on Sept. 9, 1569.
