The Imaginary Worlds of
Bosch and Bruegel
Prints from the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Embedded Files
Cover: Jheronimus Bosch, engraved by Joannes van Doetecum (I), The Besieged Elephant, c. 1561, etching and engraving, 401 × 536 mm
Above: Engraved by Hendrick Hondius (I), Portrait of Jheronimus Bosch, 1610, engraving, 149 × 119 mm
FACTS & FIGURES
FACTS & FIGURES
Number of works
85
Exhibition Components
Prints
Curator
Dr. Peter van der Coelen, Curator of Prints & Drawings,
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Space Requirements
Minimum 1,600 sq. ft.
The work of Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) and Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525–1569) comes together in this fascinating exhibition of imagination and fantasy. With 85 engravings, etchings, and woodcuts from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s world-famous print room, The Imaginary Worlds of Bosch and Bruegel highlights the rich pictorial pursuits of these two celebrated artists of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Renowned for their highly original subject matter, Bosch and Bruegel found motifs in both the everyday and the supernatural. Satire and mockery alternated with visions of heaven and hell in religious and allegorical imagery alike. Bosch’s bizarre painted environments were posthumously translated by printmakers and publishers of the Renaissance and, in turn, inspired a later generation of artists such as Bruegel, who came to be known as a “second Bosch.”
Bosch was not a graphic artist himself, but his fantastical images of monsters and demons soon found their way into printmaking. Half a century after the artist's death, his work experienced a fervent revival. Various printmakers, such as Hieronymus Cock and his wife Volcxken Diericx, published images in the spirit of Bosch, often with whole armies of monsters, devils, and fanciful creatures.
Bruegel was a brilliant printmaker, who worked in close collaboration with Cock’s and Diericx's printing house and professional engravers including Pieter van der Heyden and Philips Galle. Bruegel designed landscapes with breathtaking vistas, allegorical representations of money and deceit, and scenes of everyday life with celebrating peasants, merry skaters, and mocking jesters.
The Imaginary Worlds of Bosch and Bruegel explores their overlapping magical realms and artistic legacies on paper. Organized by maker and theme, the exhibition delights with history and humor while also sharing insights on 16th-century printmaking practices in northern Europe, with Antwerp as its center.
Introduction
Introduction
Johannes Wierix, Portrait of Hieronymus Cock, 1572, engraving, 156 × 121 mm
Johannes Wierix, Portrait of Volcxken Diericx, 1579, engraving, 157 × 120 mm
Hans Vredeman de Vries, engraved by Joannes van Doetecum (I), Perspective view of a street, with on the corner the printshop of Hieronymus Cock and Volcxken Diericx, 1560, etching and engraving, 208 × 255 mm
Bosch
Bosch
Jheronimus Bosch, engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, Merry Company, 1567, engraving, 196 × 284 mm
Jheronimus Bosch, etched by an unkown artist, The Tree Man, c. 1590–1610, etching, 210 mm
Jheronimus Bosch, engraved by an unknown artist, Various Fantastic Figures, c. 1570–1580, engraving, 279 × 212 mm
Jheronimus Bosch, engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Last Judgment, c. 1560–1570, engraving, 240 x 354 mm
Jheronimus Bosch, engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Blue Boat, 1559, engraving, 213 x 295 mm
Bruegel
Bruegel
Johannes Wierix, Portrait of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1572, engraving,
154 × 124 mm
Bruegel as Second Bosch
Bruegel as Second Bosch
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, Big Fish Eat Little Fish, 1557, engraving, 218 x 300 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Fall of the Magician Hermogenes, 1565, engraving, 211 x 290 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, Patience, 1557, engraving, 324 x 433 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Temptation of Saint Anthony, 1556, engraving, 231 x 323 mm
Bruegel - Sins and Virtues
Bruegel - Sins and Virtues
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, Pride, 1558, engraving, 212 x 295 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Philips Galle, Fortitude, c. 1560, engraving, 211 x 294 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, Lust, c. 1558, engraving, 211 x 293 mm
Bruegel - Allegories
Bruegel - Allegories
Pieter Bruegel, engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, Everyman, c. 1558, engraving, 228 x 296 mm
Pieter Bruegel, engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Battle about Money, c. 1570–1572, engraving, 222 x 307 mm
Pieter Bruegel, engraved by Philips Galle, The Triumph of Time, c. 1574, engraving, 198 x 300 mm
Bruegel - The Bible
Bruegel - The Bible
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Philips Galle, The Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Virgins, c. 1560–1563, engraving, 210 x 291 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Descent of Christ into Limbo, 1561, engraving, 211 x 289 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Philips Galle, The Resurrection, c. 1562–1563, engraving, 430 x 303 mm
Bruegel - Landscapes
Bruegel - Landscapes
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Joannes van Doetecum (I), Wooded Region, c. 1555, etching and engraving, 301 x 428 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Joannes van Doetecum (I), View of Tivoli, c. 1555–1556, etching and engraving, 299 x 422 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Joannes van Doetecum (I), The Penitent Magdalene, c. 1555–1556, etching and engraving, 323 x 427 mm
Bruegel - Seascapes
Bruegel - Seascapes
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Cornelis Cort, Two Galleys Sailing Behind an Armed Three-Master with Phaeton and Jupiter in the Sky, c. 1561–1565, engraving 218 x 281 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Frans Huys, Armed Three-Master with Daedalus and Icarus in the Sky, c. 1561–1562, engraving, 214 x 286 mm
Peasant Bruegel
Peasant Bruegel
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, Summer, 1570, engraving, 210 x 284 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Thin Kitchen, 1563, engraving, 210 x 291 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Peasant Wedding Dance, c. 1570–1572, engraving, 335 x 429 mm
Bruegel - Satire and Everyday Life
Bruegel - Satire and Everyday Life
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Stone Cutter, 1559, engraving, 330 x 465 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Wedding of Mopsus and Nisa, 1570, engraving, 209 x 286 mm
Pieter Bruegel (I), engraved by Pieter van der Heyden, The Ass at School, 1557, engraving, 235 x 303 mm
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is a multifaceted museum in the heart of the Netherland’s harbour city, Rotterdam. It is the only museum in the Netherlands that offers the visitor a comprehensive survey of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present day.
The museum contains old master paintings and sculpture, modern and contemporary art, decorative arts, pre-industrial household objects and industrial design. The collections of prints and drawings, early Netherlandish painting, Impressionism and Surrealism are among the best in the world.
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