- Jan Brueghel the Elder
Jan Brueghel the Elder (b. 1568,
Brussels -January 13 1625 ,Antwerp ) was a Flemish painter, son ofPieter Brueghel the Elder and father ofJan Brueghel the Younger . Nicknamed "Velvet" Brueghel, "Flower" Brueghel, and "Paradise" Brueghel, of which the latter two were derived from favored subjects, while the former may refer to the velveteen sheen of his colors or to his habit of wearing velvet.His father died in 1569, and then, following the death of his mother in 1578, Jan, along with his brother
Pieter Brueghel the Younger ("Hell Brueghel") and sister Marie, went to live with their grandmotherMayken Verhulst (widow ofPieter Coecke van Aelst ). She was an artist in her own right, and according toCarel van Mander , possibly the first teacher of the two sons. The family moved toAntwerp sometime after 1578.He first applied himself to painting flowers and fruits, and afterwards acquired considerable reputation by his landscapes and sea-pieces. He formed a style more independent of his father's than did his brother Pieter the Younger. His early works are often landscapes containing scenes from scripture, particularly forest landscapes betraying the influence of the master forest landscape-painter
Gillis van Coninxloo . Later in his career, he moved toward the painting of pure landscapes andtownscape s, and, toward the end, of still lifes.After residing long at Cologne he travelled into Italy, where his landscapes, adorned with small figures, were greatly admired. He left a large number of pictures, chiefly landscapes, which are executed with great skill.
Many of his paintings are collaborations in which figures by other painters were placed in landscapes painted by Jan Brueghel. The most famous of his collaborators was
Peter Paul Rubens in several of his small pictures—such as his "Vertumnus and Pomona," the "Satyr viewing the Sleeping Nymph," and the "Terrestrial Paradise.".He had a studio in
Antwerp , where he died fromcholera .Family tree
ee also
*
List of Belgian painters External links
* [http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/b/bruegel/jan_e/ Web Gallery of Art: Jan Brueghel the Elder]
* [http://www.abcgallery.com/B/bruegel/jan.html Jan Brueghel the Elder at Olga's Gallery]
* [http://www.interpol.int/Public/News/2007/WOA20070806.asp INTERPOL]
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