Barthel Bruyn the Elder facts for kids

Vanitas, a painting by Bruyn. It shows how things change over time.

Barthel Bruyn the Elder (born 1493, died 1555) was an important German Renaissance painter. He lived and worked in the city of Cologne. Bruyn was famous for painting large altarpieces for churches. He also painted many portraits of people. In his time, he was the best portrait painter in Cologne.

Barthel Bruyn's Life and Art

Barthel Bruyn was born in either Wesel or Cologne. We don't know exactly where. His first artworks show that he learned to paint in the Lower Rhine area. One of his earliest known works is an altarpiece. It was called Coronation of the Virgin and was made around 1515–1516. A professor from the University of Cologne, Dr. Peter von Clapis, asked him to paint it.

How Bruyn's Painting Style Changed

In the 1510s and 1520s, Bruyn's altarpieces showed the influence of Jan Joest. Joest was a painter related to Bruyn. Bruyn often painted figures that looked like they were lit from below, just like Joest did.

Later, when Bruyn painted the Essen altarpiece (1522–1525), he started to mix Joest's style with that of another artist, Joos van Cleve. In the 1530s, Bruyn's art began to look more Italian. He was likely inspired by famous Italian artists like Raphael and Michelangelo. He probably saw their work through prints by Marcantonio Raimondi. He also learned from artists like Jan van Scorel and Martin van Heemskerck.

Bruyn's Famous Portraits

Bruyn is especially well-known for his portraits. He was the first major portrait painter in Cologne. He also started a busy school of portrait painting. His sons, Arnt and Barthel Bruyn the Younger, continued this tradition.

Bruyn usually painted people from the waist up. They often stood against a plain background. The face was the main focus of the painting. But he also carefully showed details of their clothes and hands. An art expert, Jean M. Caswell, said Bruyn's paintings of Cologne's middle-class citizens were "lively and expressive." They showed people as they truly were, without trying to make them look better than they were. Bruyn did not sign his portraits. Because of this, some of his paintings were once thought to be by Hans Holbein the Younger. Holbein's style also influenced Bruyn's work after 1539.

Bruyn's Role in Cologne

Barthel Bruyn was a respected person in Cologne. He was active in city matters throughout his life. He was chosen to be on the City Council in 1549 and again in 1553. When he died, he was a wealthy man. You can see his paintings in many museums around the world. These include the National Gallery in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Louvre in Paris. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid has a painting called Nativity and two portraits by Bruyn.

Gallery

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  Portrait of a Young Man with Gloves, in Vienna

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  An altarpiece in the Church of St. John the Baptist, Essen

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  Portrait of a Knight, painted in 1531, in Vienna

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  Anne of Cleves, painted around the 1540s

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  Portrait of an academic

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  Elisabeth Bellinghausen and Jacob Omphalius, painted around 1538. Elisabeth is holding a plant that was a symbol for people who were engaged to be married.

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  Nativity, painted around 1520, in Madrid.

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  An older Anne of Cleves, painted by Barthel Bruyn the Elder

See also

In Spanish: Bartholomäus Bruyn para niños