Scenes from the village life
by Pieter BRUEGEL the Elder

The subjects most frequently treated by European painters in Bruegel's day and age were taken from the spheres of religion and classical antiquity. These included scenes from biblical history along with the heroes and gods of the Greeks and Romans, and portraits of high-ranking personages. The buildings to be seen in these pictures were commonly palaces and town or city halls - magnificent edifices, in other words, not crofts and thatched houses, not such dwellings as would call to mind the arduous life in the country. It was only in the Netherlands that things differed in this respect. Many artists in this country incorporated their everyday milieu into their pictures, painting not only rich and important men but also nameless people - the peasants, the agricultural workers, their dwellings, their villages.

In his day, Bruegel was the most important of these painters displaying a pronounced realistic touch. It is true that he included a biblical scene in his painting of The Census at Bethlehem; he depicted it so completely integrated into the pastoral life, however, that it can scarcely be made out at first glance.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
The Fight between Carnival and Lent
1559
Oil on panel, 118 x 165 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1210*900
True Color
205 Kb



The Fight between Carnival and Lent (detail)
1559
Oil on panel, width 38 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

850*1042
True Color
190 Kb



The Fight between Carnival and Lent (detail)
1559
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1105*800
True Color
136 Kb



The Fight between Carnival and Lent (detail)
1559
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

900*1105
True Color
164 Kb



The Fight between Carnival and Lent (detail)
1559
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1134*950
True Color
153 Kb



The Fight between Carnival and Lent (detail)
1559
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

900*1154
True Color
182 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem
1566
Oil on oak, 116 x 164 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

1147*820
True Color
195 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem (detail)
1566
Oil on oak
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

800*1031
True Color
207 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem (detail)
1566
Oil on oak
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

1116*950
True Color
166 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem (detail)
1566
Oil on oak, width of detail 54 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

1323*770
True Color
171 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem (detail)
1566
Oil on oak, width of detail 49 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

900*1088
True Color
183 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem (detail)
1566
Oil on oak
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

1168*850
True Color
189 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem (detail)
1566
Oil on oak, width of detail 54 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

1312*770
True Color
191 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem (detail)
1566
Oil on oak, width of detail 49 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

850*1036
True Color
205 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem (detail)
1566
Oil on oak
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

850*1116
True Color
192 Kb



The Census at Bethlehem (detail)
1566
Oil on oak, width of detail 54 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

1600*769
True Color
162 Kb




Summary of works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Paintings
Landscapes | Children's games | Proverbs
Village life | Demons and devils | Tower of Babel
Series of Months | Religious themes | St John the Baptist
Peasant life | Large figures | Miscellaneous
Graphics