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Email to FriendPieter Brueghel the Elder, Engraving, Saint Jerome in the Desert, c. 1555-56  |
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| Artist: | Brueghel the Elder, Pieter (1525 - 1569) |
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| Title: | Saint Jerome in the Desert, c. 1555-56 |
| Reference: | O.25; K.2; B.24 |
| Medium: | Original Engraving |
| Image Size: | 16.9 in x 12.9 in (42.9 cm x 32.7 cm) |
| Sheet Size: | 16.9 in x 12.9 in (42.9 cm x 32.7 cm) |
| Framed Size: | 31 1/4 in x 26 in (79.5 cm x 66 cm) |
| Signed: | The signature of Bruegel (Breda, 1525 - Brussels, 1569) is inscribed in the lower right: 'brueghel Inue | h. cock excu.' |
| Edition: | Engraved by Jan and Lucas van Duetecum (after an original drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder) on Double Eagle watermarked paper [M.244] dating the print to the late 1500s |
| Condition: | This work is in excellent condition, a bold impression that has been trimmed to the border on all sides |
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Gallery Price
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Item# 2224
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| MFA SALE | 50% Off: $6,250 |
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Conveying a magnificent landscape, this stunning work is notable for Brueghel's incredible attention to detail. Upon further observation we notice curious characters and components that contribute to the overall charm. Curiously, St. Jerome and his lion do not immediately pop out as the main subjects of this work, as they dwell in the lower right corner, nearly blending in with the landscape. This leads us to infer that Brueghel perhaps wanted to focus more on the spectacular landscape than the persona of his subject. |
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| Historical Description: | |
| Originally created in c. 1555-56, this exquisite landscape print is based on a
drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Breda, 1525 - Brussels, 1569). Etched and
engraved by Jan and Lucas van Duetecum on Double Eagle watermarked paper [M.244],
dating the print to the late 1500s. Inscribed in the lower right: brueghel Inue
| h cock excu.
According to N. Orenstein (2001), "Saint Jerome prays under a tree, bent over a book as his lion lazes behind him. The saint has turned his back on a magnificent landscape - hardly a wilderness - occupied by many minute figures and details: travelers, people with carts, a ferry drawn by horses, ships, and such. A mountainside in the middle ground is crowned by a fortress; beyond that a riverscape leads off into the distance. This is one of three prints in the Large Landscapes group with a biblical subject. Here, as with the other examples, it is not clear whether Bruegel's original intention was to depict a religious theme. The saint seems almost an afterthought, and the figures and the title were no doubt added by the publisher" (p. 125). 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. 7 on pgs. 50.
2. Klein, H. Arthur. Graphic Worlds of Peter Bruegel the Elder, Dover Publications: New York, 1963. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 2 on pgs. 12-3.
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 no. 25 on pg. 125
4. Sellink, M. Pieter Bruegel: The Complete Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Ludion: NY, 2007. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 24 on pg. 68. About the Framing: | |
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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 prints have remained consistently popular. Pieter Brueghel the Elder died in Brussels on Sept. 9, 1569.
