It was not until the sixteenth century that the history of landscape painting really began. It had played a subordinate role in Christian painting towards the end of the Middle Ages; the subject of importance for mediaeval times was not so much one's visible surroundings as Heaven and Hell, and how one arrived at the one or the other. Not until one or two generations before Bruegel did people discover the attractive sight and aesthetic pleasure that a landscape could offer. The first master of landscapes is generally acknowledged to be Joachim Patenier.

Patenier used an elevated vantage-point to fit a broad area of land into his picture. It is only from above that one's gaze can pass over houses, trees, hills. Bruegel imitated him in this, almost all of his landscapes depicting the view from a mountain or some otherwise undefined height. Bruegel occupies an important position in the history of landscape painting on account of his ability to convey to the observer the transformation of nature in the course of the seasons.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	Landscape with the Fall of Icarus c. 1555 Oil on canvas, mounted on wood, 73,5 x 112 cm Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
	Landscape with the Fall of Icarus c. 1555 Oil on canvas, mounted on wood, 74 x 112 cm Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
	Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (detail) c. 1555 Oil on canvas, mounted on wood Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
	Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (detail) c. 1555 Oil on canvas, mounted on wood Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
	The Suicide of Saul 1562 Oil on panel, 34 x 55 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	The Suicide of Saul (detail) 1562 Oil on panel, width of detail 27 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	The Suicide of Saul (detail) 1562 Oil on panel Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	The Suicide of Saul (detail) 1562 Oil on panel Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	The Conversion of Saul 1567 Oil on panel, 108 x 156 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	The Conversion of Saul (detail) 1567 Oil on panel Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	The Conversion of Saul (detail) 1567 Oil on panel, width of detail 78 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	The Conversion of Saul (detail) 1567 Oil on panel Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap 1565 Oil on panel, 37 x 55,5 cm Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
	Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird Trap (detail) 1565 Oil on panel Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
	Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird Trap (detail) 1565 Oil on panel, width of detail 21 cm Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
	Magpie on the Gallow 1568 Oil on oak panel, 46 x 51 cm Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
	Magpie on the Gallow (detail) 1568 Oil on oak panel Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
	Magpie on the Gallow (detail) 1568 Oil on oak panel Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
	The Temptation of St Anthony 1557 Oil on canvas, 59 x 86 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington
	Landscape with the Parable of the Sower 1557 Oil on panel, 70 x 102 cm Timken Art Gallery, San Diego
	Landscape with the Flight into Egypt 1563 Oil on canvas, 37 x 56 cm Courtauld Gallery, London
	Storm at Sea 1568 Oil on panel, 71 x 97 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna