Pieter Bruegel The Elder

From Conservapedia

The Peasant Wedding, 1568.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (b. Breda, Netherlands c. 1525 – 1569) was a Renaissance painter and printmaker; considered the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century. From 1559 he dropped the "h" from his name and started signing his paintings as Bruegel (his sons retained the "h" in the spelling of their names). He was the first in a family (Brueghel) of Flemish painters; father of Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Founder of a prominent family of artists, Pieter Brueghel (or Bruegel) the Elder is one of the first masters of Flemish painting, a talent often compared to Hieronymus Bosch, though Bosch’s moralizing paranoia is replaced by Bruegel’s ironic social criticism and unconcealed love for country life. [1]

Bruegel is best known for his landscapes and peasant scenes.

Though he was sometimes called "Peasant" Bruegel, due to the common folk with which he populated his genre paintings, Bruegel himself was a sophisticated city-dweller who had traveled to Italy. His seemingly simple scenes of everyday life are full of commentary on the religious controversies of his time. Artist Profile by Shelley Esaak

Bruegel found in nature his greatest inspiration; his mountain landscapes have few parallels in European art. He also painted religious works and mythological portrayals.