Pieter Brueghel the Younger Facts for Kids

Pieter Brueghel the Younger by Anthony van Dyck

Pieter Brueghel the Younger (born between May and October 1564 – died between March and May 1638) was a famous Flemish painter. He was well-known for making many copies of his father's artworks, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. He also created his own original paintings. His busy art studio helped spread his father's famous images around the world.

Pieter Brueghel the Younger was sometimes called "Hell Brueghel." This was because people thought he painted many pictures showing fire and strange, scary creatures. However, we now know that these paintings were actually made by his brother, Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Life
His Artworks
Selected Works
Family tree
Images for kids
See also

Life

Pieter Brueghel the Younger was born in Brussels. He was the oldest son of the famous painter Pieter Brueghel the Elder, who was also known as "Peasant Brueghel." Pieter the Younger was only five years old when his father died in 1569.

After his mother died in 1578, Pieter and his brother, Jan Brueghel the Elder, went to live with their grandmother, Mayken Verhulst. She was also a talented artist, known for her small paintings. Some people believe she might have been the first art teacher for her grandsons.

The Brueghel family later moved to Antwerp. Pieter probably learned to paint landscapes from an artist named Gillis van Coninxloo. By 1584 or 1585, Pieter Brueghel the Younger became an independent master painter.

In 1588, Pieter married Elisabeth Goddelet. They had seven children, but many of them died young. One of his sons, Pieter Brueghel III, also became a painter. Pieter Brueghel the Younger ran a large art studio in Antwerp. His studio mainly made copies of his father's paintings. These copies were sold locally and also sent to other countries. He had at least nine students, including Frans Snyders. Pieter Brueghel the Younger died in Antwerp when he was 72 years old.

His Artworks

General Style

Pieter Brueghel the Younger painted many different subjects. These included landscapes, religious scenes, and pictures showing village life. He also painted scenes based on old sayings or proverbs. A few paintings of flowers by him have also been recorded. His paintings of peasants often focused on how charming and interesting village life looked.

He and his workshop made many copies of his father's most famous paintings. For a long time, Pieter Brueghel the Younger's work was not well-known. But in the early 1900s, people rediscovered his art.

Original Paintings

The Village Lawyer or The Tax Collector's Office

Pieter Brueghel the Younger also created his own original paintings. These artworks were lively and colorful, fitting the style of the 1600s. One of his most successful original paintings is called The Village Lawyer. It is also known by other names like The Tax Collector's Office.

This painting shows people lining up with gifts like chickens and eggs. They are trying to please the person behind the desk, who wears a lawyer's hat. This shows Pieter's interest in everyday village life. His workshop made many copies of The Village Lawyer in different sizes. There are at least 19 signed copies of this painting.

Another original painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger is the Whitsun Bride. At least five versions of this painting exist. It shows a springtime tradition in Flanders where a queen is chosen and crowned during the Whitsuntide festival. This painting uses bright colors, like red and blue-green, which were typical of the 1600s.

He also painted four small round pictures called Four Stages of the River. These are all kept at the National Gallery in Prague. It can be hard to know exactly when he painted his works because his style did not change much over time. Sometimes, it is not clear if a painting is an original by Pieter the Younger or a copy of a lost work by his father.

Copying His Father's Art

Winter landscape with a bird trap

Besides his own paintings, Pieter Brueghel the Younger also copied his father's famous artworks. He used a technique called pouncing. This allowed him to create many copies quickly in his large, well-organized studio. When comparing his copies to the originals, there are sometimes small differences in color or details. This might mean he sometimes copied from prints of his father's work, not always from the original paintings themselves.

Pieter the Younger often used his father's drawings for prints to create paintings. He also had access to some of his father's original drawings that are now lost. Because of this, his copies are sometimes the only way we know about some of his father's artworks that no longer exist.

The subjects he copied covered all the themes his father painted. These included religious scenes and, most importantly, his father's famous proverb and peasant scenes.

One of his father's most copied works was Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird-trap. Pieter Brueghel the Younger and his workshop made at least 60 copies of this painting. Another popular work was Adoration of the Magi in the Snow, with about 30 copies made.

Drunkard on an egg

His workshop also made at least 25 copies of Pieter Brueghel the Elder's St John the Baptist Preaching. The original painting is believed to be in the Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest). Many museums around the world have copies of this work. Pieter the Younger sometimes changed small details in his copies. For example, some versions leave out a bearded man who is looking at the viewer in the original painting.

The fact that so many copies of his father's work were made shows that there was a great demand for Pieter the Elder's art. These copies also helped make his father's style very popular. Without Pieter the Younger's copying, many people would not have seen his father's paintings. This is because the originals were often kept in private collections, like those of kings and wealthy families. Pieter the Younger also added to his father's art by creating his own new ideas and variations on his father's themes.

The Preaching of St. John the Baptist
The Preaching of St. John the Baptist, original by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1566), Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)
Copy by Pieter Brueghel the Younger of his father's work The Preaching of St. John the Baptist (after 1616), Groeningemuseum in Bruges, omitting the bearded man in black, turned towards the spectator in the original
Copy by Pieter Brueghel the Younger of his father's work The Preaching of St. John the Baptist (1601-1604), Europeum in Kraków

The Alchemist
The Alchemist by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Metropolitan Museum of Art, original etching
Copy of The Alchemist by Pieter Brueghel the Younger recreated in colour on panel