Pieter Brueghel II (c. 1564-1637/8)

The Property of a Gentleman of Title

Details

Pieter Brueghel II (c. 1564-1637/8)

Spring: Gardeners, Sheep Shearers and Peasants merrymaking

signed 'P.BREVGHEL.'
oil on panel
16 7/8 x 22¾in. (42.8 x 57.8cm.)

Provenance

Mrs. A. Eecen-van Setten, Harlingersingel 7, Leeuwarden.
with Alfred Brod, London, 1969.

Literature

G. Marlier, Pierre Brueghel le Jeune, Brussels, 1969, pp. 222-3, no. 3, fig. 132 (detail).

Exhibited

Amsterdam, Kunsthandel P. de Boer, De Helsche en de Fluweelen Brueghel, 10 Feb. - 26 March 1934, no. 20, pl. 4.
Amsterdam, Kunsthandel P. de Boer, and Vienna, Galerie Sanct Lucas, Die jüngeren Brueghel und ihr Kreis, 1935, no. 56.
Ghent and Breda, De Beyerd Cultureel Centrum, Landschap in de Nederlanden, 1960-1, no. 20, illustrated.
Laren, Singer Memorial Foundation, Modernen van toen, 1963, no. 55. Haarlem, Frans Halsmuseum, De Landman en de Muze, 14 June - 29 Aug. 1965, no. 7.

Lot Essay

The composition is based, with numerous minor variations, on an engraving by Pieter van der Heyden published by Hieronymus Cock in Antwerp in 1570, which follows a drawing by Pieter Brueghel I of 1565 in the Albertina, Vienna. The engraving is captioned 'Spring is comparable to Youth. March, April and May are the months of Spring'. In the calendaria of a number of early 16th Century Books of Hours, March is represented by gardening, April by sheep-shearing and May by a garden party.

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