Bare life
As hearty as a bowl of broth, this farmhouse has all the hallmarks of the Bruegelian vision. Well-heeled visitors in gowns and ruffs have come to see a new baby, breast-fed amid household bustle.
Like father, like son
Let’s be clear, though: it’s not the Bruegel you might be expecting. While Pieter Bruegel the Elder turned peasant life into high art in the wake of the Reformation, this original painting is by his son. Bruegel the Younger made his living turning out copies of his father’s work.
There’s no one quite like Grandma
It may come as a surprise, then, that the Younger was just five when his father died. It’s thought that his grandmother, Mayken Verhulst, one of pre-20th century art history’s few women, may have been his first teacher.
On one’s merits
While the copyist rarely achieved the dynamism or mystery of the father’s hand, he preserves plenty of engrossing historical and human details.
