1. Pieter Bruegel 1525 – 1569

2. Who was he?  Pieter Bruegel was born in 1525 and died in 1569 at the age of 44. No one knows the actual birthdate and the death date of Pieter Bruegel. He was a Flemish artist, who was the first person from a Flemish family, in the 16 th century to become a painter. He was commonly known as Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

3. Family Pieter married a woman called Mayken Van Aelst. She was the daughter of Pieter’s mentor “Pieter Coecke Van Aelst.” They had 2 sons “ Jan the Elder” and “ Pieter the Younger.” Pieter Bruegel spelt his name as Brueghel, with an “h” until 1559. No one knows why he took away the “h”, but his sons took away the “h” as well. Jan and Pieter were artists as well. Pieter and Mayken were both buried in the Notre Dame De La Chappelle in Brussels.

4. Paintings  He did a few versions of the “Tower of Babel” and “Children’s Games.” Some of his paintings have a few different versions. All of his painting told a different story. They were mainly religious paintings, that is how he got the nickname “ Peasant Bruegel” and also how he was a peasant.

5. The Journey  In 1551 and 1552, he set of on the Northern Artists Journey to Italy. In 1553, he lived in Rome for a while with a miniaturist “Guilio Clovio.” When Pieter was in Flanders, he worked with Hieronymus Cock who was an Antwerp Engraver and a Print Seller.

6. Achievements  In 1551, he completed his training and became part of the “Master of the Painters” Guild in Antwerp. He was the head of the Bruegel Dynasty. He is known for his simplicity in his paintings and his Italian work of this time. In 1565, he completed a series of paintings of the seasons. Five of those paintings still exist today.

7. Changes he Made to the World  Pieter changed the way that people thought about religion. His paintings inspired heaps of people about life. The way he painted his paintings, helped people to understand the artistic culture. His painting are very different to many people’s paintings and you would be able to see that easily, if you looked at one of his paintings. His paintings are a lot of different scenes that are put together to make one big scene.