Panel - 18.8 cm - SignedXVIIth Paintings, Brueghel
Provenance: private collection.
This rare pair of small paintings feature a theme that is very particular to the painting of Pieter Brueghel the Younger, i.e. the sinnekins, more commonly...
read moreProvenance: private collection.
This rare pair of small paintings feature a theme that is very particular to the painting of Pieter Brueghel the Younger, i.e. the sinnekins, more commonly known as proverbs. The term sinneke applied to paintings and engravings that drew their inspiration from the popular theatre of the time. Viewers therefore had no difficulty in identifying and understanding them. They featured popular expressions transposed into rural life. These two small splendid paintings – a veritable anthology of “small circular paintings by Brueghel” – remarkably illustrate the morality of the times.
The first tondo illustrated a peasant offering his companion an owl is an original work by Pieter Brueghel the Younger. This choice marks the beginnings of the emancipation of our artist from his father’s model. His painting becomes more cheerful and his compositions lighter; both qualities that can be seen in this charming little tondo. Using a truly extraordinarily refined technique, this panel represents one of the four versions of this subject, created by the fertile imagination of Pieter Brueghel the Younger. This time, the main characters in the scene are a man and a woman. The peasant, dressed in a round beret and short jacket with a loose shirt, is facing his companion dressed in the clothes women wore to work in the fields: a piece of cloth tied around the head, a bodice with a plunging neckline, a woollen petticoat covered with an apron. According to Ertz, this seemingly peaceful and anecdotal scene does in fact hide a much more sexual connotation. More or less veiled symbolic allusions pepper the scene here and there: the jug symbolises the uterus of the women, and any viewer who is aware of this detail in the painting will certainly recognize the role played by the owl. The simple and supposedly carefree atmosphere in this picturesque composition merely serves to increase the viewer’s surprise once the true meaning is revealed.
Filled with refinement and skill, the second panel of this very rare pair of proverbs: She is carrying water and fire at the same time, where a peasant woman who is the main protagonist of the composition. She also features in the very famous painting “Proverbs” (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin) by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. However, there are clear modifications in the version painted here by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, revealing his own pictorial personality and in particular, his exceptional talent as a colourist. Marlier interprets this phrase as an emblem relating to duplicity, the conflict inherent to Man's existence.
All the talent and joy of life of our artist can be found amongst this anthology of sinnekins through the cleverly arranged colours. What more do we need to confirm that Pieter Brueghel the Younger was one of the most important artists of the Golden Age of Flemish painting.
Literature : K. Ertz, Pieter Brueghel die Jüngere, Lingen, 1998/2000, Vol. I, No. E617, p. 217, reproduction p. 177.
Georges Marlier, Pierre Brueghel le Jeune, Ed. Robert Finck, Brussels, 1969, p. 152, ill. 71 ;
K. Ertz, Pieter Brueghel die Jüngere, Lingen, 1998/2000, Vol. I, No. E77, reproduction p.201.
More informations
Brussels 1564 - Antwerp 1638
The eldest son of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, he settled early on in Antwerp where he received his training in the studio of the landscape artist, Gillis van...
read moreBrussels 1564 - Antwerp 1638
The eldest son of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, he settled early on in Antwerp where he received his training in the studio of the landscape artist, Gillis van Coninxloo. He was made a Master in 1585. He was only five years old when his father died in 1569, so he was not able to initiate his son in painting. His mother, the daughter of painter Pieter Coecke d’Alost and she herself a painter, died when he was only an adolescent, but it seems she contributed to his apprenticeship. In 1588 he married Elisabeth Goddelet with whom he had seven children.
He was nicknamed "Hell" Brueghel even though scenes of hell were an exception in his work. There were two sides to Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s work. In the beginning, he returned to a great number of his father’s paintings and developed several versions. He added his personal touch by introducing variants, including the importance he gave to landscape, as well as his own colours that were livelier and of greater purity than those used by his father.
The second period began around 1615-1620. During this time, he asserted his personality through the creation of original paintings, which met with great success at this time, also inspiring several replicas. His son Pieter Brueghel III and Frans Snyders, the famous painter of still lifes and animals, were his students. Besides prolonging the work of his father, Pieter Brueghel II held a significant position in the 17th century especially through his fine brushwork and the purity of his colours. He influenced every Flemish painter in his century.
He had a particularly fruitful career, extending over nearly half a century, and was highly successful during his lifetime.
