Pieter Bruegel the Elder is considered the top artist form Flanders (the Netherlands) during the16th Century. He was known for his paintings of landscapes, seasonal panoramas, and parables of peasant life. His humanistic times are seen in his works. The unique thing is that these are the common humans, as opposed to the trendy paintings of the elite created by virtually all preceding artists.

Bruegel, it is said, was apprenticed to Pieter Coeck van Aelst, a leading artist with studios in Antwerp and Brussels where he worked as a sculptor, architect, and designer of tapestry and stained glass. Bruegel would later marry his daughter, Mayken, and would settle in Brussels. He also studied under Hieronymous Cocke for a short time. His outside influences came from unlikely sources. The greatest of these sources was fellow Renaissance artist, Hieronymus Bosch. Although their styles are extremely different, they were alike in some regards. They both struggled with the pain of life and morally. For that reason, many times Bruegel will create works that reflect Biblical proverbs. Much of his early fame came about due to his engraved copies Bosch's Seven Virtues and Seven Vices. He was also influenced by Giulio Clovio when he traveled to study independently in Rome, Italy for a year of study in 1553. He also traveled around France, Switzerland and Austria to improve his artistic skills and create landscape paintings. Clovio must have also been influenced by Bruegel, as his estate inventory records that he owned several of his drawings and paintings.

The family of Bruegel also followed his artistic career. His wife’s father was his mentor and teacher. Her mother, Maria, was also a watercolor painter in her own respect. She was later employed in her son-in-law’s studio and is claimed to have influenced his paintings of peasants. Bruegel had two sons,Pieter the Younger (nicknamed Hell) and Jan the Elder (nicknamed Velvet), who both also became respected artists. Although respected by their peers, neither son was able to reach the same level of artistic significance historically as their father.

Bruegel's paintings centering on peasant life were his calling card. He prefers painting peasants to nobility, but what was truly unique, is the fact that his works of peasants earned his a living and a high status.  A prime example of these peasant works is Hunters in the Snow (sometimes known as January). He often borrowed stories from religion, proverbs, almanacs or any story that was beloved by the people. He also shows the hardships of his time: religious persecution, iconoclasm, famine, plague, and war. He was quite interested in social and political affairs.

Hunters in the Snow