The illustrated monograph

An essay of nearly 10,000 words on Pieter Bruegel the Elder — the name without a birthplace, the Alpine journey, the Four Winds print house, the encyclopaedic panels of Antwerp, the Months and the peasants of Brussels, four centuries of readings — followed by the complete catalogue of the 105 works with an image recorded by Wikidata: 45 paintings, 56 drawings and prints, 4 rejected attributions, each illustrated and given a commentary — over 56,000 words of commentary. Its pages, listed below, read like any other page of the site — click any image to enlarge it, arrow keys ← → to navigate.

The Painter and the Buyer (detail), c. 1566, Albertina, Vienna — Wikimedia Commons. — Pieter Bruegel the Elder, *The Painter and the Buyer* (detail), c. 1566, Albertina, Vienna — long read as a self-portrait — Wikimedia Commons.

Key facts

The essay: ≈ 9,800 words in 6 pages: the name and the journey, Antwerp and the print, the making, Brussels, the readings, four pictures closely
The catalogue: 105 works in 4 pages — the paintings (2 pages), then the drawings and prints (2 pages)
The commentaries: ≈ 56,500 words — a secure chronology (Bruegel dated his panels), technical examinations, attribution debates (Sellink 2007, Vienna 2018)
Language: English — the rest of the site is bilingual
Sources: Wikidata (works, dates, collections, dimensions); images from Wikimedia Commons (internet connection required)

The essay, in six pages

The split follows the essay's chapters — no section is cut
Page	Chapters
Essay · The name and the journey	Prologue: the world on a panel — I. A name without a birthplace — II. The journey south
Essay · Antwerp: prints and panels	III. At the Four Winds — III bis. The Antwerp mind — IV. Antwerp, 1559–1563: the encyclopaedic panels
Essay · The making and the drawing	V. How a Bruegel is made — VI. Drawing: the Alps, the naer het leven studies
Essay · Brussels: the Months, the peasants	VII. Brussels, 1563–1569 — VIII. The peasant pictures and the last year
Essay · Four centuries of readings	IX. What the pictures mean — X. The politics question — XI. Afterlife: the dynasty, the copies
Essay · Four pictures, closely	XII. Four pictures, closely — XIII. How to look at a Bruegel — Coda

The catalogue, in four pages

Order is chronological within each section
Page	Works	Section
Catalogue · 1556–1565	23	The paintings
Catalogue · 1565–1568	22	The paintings
On paper · 1552–1559	28	Drawings and prints
On paper · 1553–1600	32	Drawings and prints; rejected attributions

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