Kashia Moua

May 19, 2015

ART 1B
Pieter Brueghel the Youngers Peasant Wedding Dance
Pieter Brueghel the Younger (Pieter Brueghel II) is the oldest son of the
renowned Flemish painter Pieter Brueghel the Older. Pieter the Older passed
on when the Younger was still a child. He and his brother, Jan Brueghel the
Older, went to live with their grandmother, Mayken Verhulst, who was a
painter herself. Supposedly, the two Brueghel brothers learned some
painting under her tutelage and they both grew up to be painters by their
own right. Pieter Brueghel the Younger had a well-organized workshop where
he and his fellow artists created copies of his fathers paintings for
commercial sale. He still was not as financially stable as the rest of his artist
relatives. The Younger had also been criticized by some for merely copying
his fathers famous paintings and compositions rather than make his own
original art and that he lacked his fathers charm and polish in his paintings.
There are a few paintings by him that experts believe are originals by the
Younger but there is still much debate on the topic today.

The oil painting Peasant Wedding Dance (on the left) that can be found
in the Crocker Art Museums permanent collection of European arts is one of
many copies of an older Peasant Wedding Dance (in the middle) that is
currently held in the Walter Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. The older

painting was painted in 1607 while the Crocker piece was painted in 1624.
The painting at the Walter and the Crocker were both based on Brueghel the
Olders famous painting Wedding Dance (on the right). The original Wedding
Dance was in Emperor Rudolfs collection in Prague, Czech Republic when the
copies were being painted so Brueghel the Younger used an engraving as a
template. The similarities between the Olders and the Youngers paintings is
obvious. The similar titles and the similar genre of portraying peasant
wedding festivities are one thing but some of the elements in the Youngers
painting seemed to be lifted straight out of his fathers painting then edited,
flipped, and pasted into his own painting. The three pairs of dancing couples
in the foreground bare the most resemblance to their original counterparts,
dancing in almost the same postures and lined in same order with the
exception of them being mirrored. The Younger included some other iconic
images from his fathers painting: the bagpiper in the foreground, the house
with the straw roof, the cloth with a crown hung over the brides table, and
the setting of the festivities taking place in the woods. There are some
differences between the Youngers painting and his fathers original but the
Youngers painting was clearly painted with the intention of being as close of
a replica of his fathers painting as possible.
Comparison aside, Brueghel the Youngers painting is impressive on its
own. Rich, bright colors painted in oil paints make the lively scene burst with
activity. Reoccurring colors of reds, blues, blacks, and whites in the peoples
clothing unify the figures who all mass together in the center of the painting
while pulling them out visually from the lush green and brown woods where
they are partying. Brueghel the Younger may be a copyist but his skills in
painting are his own. His figures that arent based off his fathers template
are as robust and animated as the ones in his fathers painting. They have
plump, homely features which are clearly defined through his brushwork so
much so that even the smiles of the figures furthest away from the view can
still be seen. The many of the peasants in his paintings are depicted with

rosy cheeks and reddish noses which is a charming depiction of the flushed
faces of dancing party-goers who may have had a little too much to drink.
Like other baroque paintings, the painting captures the action of the scene
and all over the painting you can see people in the middle of action. In the
foreground, there are the dancers caught stepping and turning in synch with
their partners while the bagpipers play music on the side looking almost
annoyed by the festivities. In the middle, some couples embrace each other
intimately while others seem to tug their partners by the arm to join the
dancers in the foreground. There are some men with jugs of alcoholic
beverages drinking heartily as they talk to each other. In the background,
huddled amongst a crowd of viewers, the bride sits at a table with a blue
cloth draped behind her like a curtain. A crown looking object is hung over
her head from the cloth which was a custom of renaissance peasants during
weddings to make the bride seem like a queen for her special day. Shes
flanked by two women who are watching a man drop coins into the plate on
the table as a blessing for the bride and groom. Furthest away from the
group, there is an old couple holding hands almost hidden in the woods and
another woman not too far off lifting up her skirt and flashing her ankles. All
together, the actions of the figures make the viewer feel like time was frozen
at the height of this wedding party.
The late 16th century and 17th century which marked the Baroque
period in European art saw many different styles of art emerge due to the
changing times. Fine art had become recognized as a high art like poetry by
the Renaissance and therefore the church and royalty were the top patrons
of the arts because they could afford it. The Baroque period saw more and
more art commissioned not only by the usual two customers but by the up
and coming middle class of merchants. With more commoners with the
ability to pay for art, artists began to cater to the commoners. Paintings of
still life, landscapes, and daily life began to emerge as opposed to the
paintings of biblical and Greco-roman narratives that had dominated the

Renaissance and Mannerism periods. These paintings appealed to the

commoners and became a key feature of northern European and especially
Dutch and Flemish art. The turn to secular themes versus religious themes in
Dutch and Flemish art was due to the Protestant Reformation where the
Catholic Church lost its foot hold in northern Europe. As such, genre paintings
like Pieter Brueghel the Olders Wedding Dance and the youngers Peasant
Wedding Dance were in high demand during the 17th Century. So much so
that the Younger was able to make a living off creating replicas of his fathers
great works in his large studio. During this time, the issue of originality of a
painting was not a big deal for commissioners so there were many artists
who could make a career as a copyist much like Brugel the Younger and his
own son Brueghel III.
When I saw the Peasant Wedding Dance at the Crocker, I was actually
quite excited. I recognized his name from our lectures about Flemish Baroque
art and was certain that the painting would be a good topic for this research
paper. My first disappointment was that our lecture was about the more
famous Brueghel the Older. My second disappointment was that the Peasant
Wedding Dance was a copy of a copy of his fathers painting which was far
superior in composition and skill. I even looked up the fathers painting in
order to compare them and, yes, the fathers paintings has more ambitious
compositions, more animated figures, and demonstrates better skill at
painting in general. As I did more research, I learned that Brueghel the
Younger was a copyist and was known for his replicas of his fathers works. I
felt a bit cheated but as I continued to do research, I came across a review of
a Brueghel exhibit where the topic of copying art was discussed. I learned
that during the 16-17th century, there were workshops that specialized in
making copies of master paintings and even master painters themselves
made copies of their own works. During that time, even the prototypes of
master pieces were valued as originals. This information made me reflect on
how I value art and how art is valued in my generation and in my time

period. Because it is so easy to copy art work in the modern times, copies
are seen as inferior to the originals and are valued less since they can be
mass produced. But to hand-make a copy, to have to redraw or repaint
something from scratch, the same amount of time and energy required to
create a new, original piece is still being used. And with the hand-made copy,
mistakes in the original work can be fixed or improvements could be made to
it, making it superior to the original. With that in mind, I have a new found
respect for Brueghel the Younger and all professional copyists with the
exception of blatant plagiarizers and art thieves.

photo taken @ Crocker May 17th,

2015
Brueghel, Pieter the Younger The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists, Ed
Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press 2009. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford
University Press.
http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095531936
'Crocker Art Museum - Peasant Wedding Dance, 1624'.
Legacy.crockerartmuseum.org. N.p., 2015. Web. 20 May
2015.http://legacy.crockerartmuseum.org/collections/permanent-

collections/european-paintings-and-sculpture/item/peasant-wedding-dance1624?category_id=8

'Peasant Wedding Dance'. The Walters Art Museum Works of Art,. N.p., 2015. Web.
20 May 2015.

http://art.thewalters.org/detail/24128/peasant-wedding-dance/
Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Maastricht and Brussels Elizabeth Alice Honig.
The Burlington Magazine. Vol. 144, No. 1188 (Mar., 2002) pp. 181-183. The
Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd. http://www.jstor.org/stable/889380