Jan Brueghel the Younger – a talented follower of a brilliant father: biography and paintings of the artist

Jan Bruegel the Younger (Jan Bruegel de Jonge; born September 13, 1601 – died September 1, 1678) is a 17th century Flemish painter who represented the third generation of the famous dynasty of artists. The work of Jan Brueghel the Younger includes still lifes, landscapes, biblical, mythological and allegorical scenes, written independently or together with other masters. Art critics believe that his paintings are not as perfect as those of the famous father and grandfather. Nevertheless, the works of this author are kept in the Hermitage, the Louvre, the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and in other collections known to the whole world.

Biography

Jan Brueghel the Younger was born at the beginning of the 17th century: September 13, 1601. The boy received his name in honor of his father, who achieved fame and was valued in the Netherlands on a par with family friend Pieter Paul Rubens. He was also the grandson of the founder of the Antwerp dynasty, Pieter Bruegel de Oude. Jan’s mother died shortly after his birth, and his father remarried. Eight more children were born from the second marriage, so that the future artist had many brothers and sisters. But he was the eldest, and it was with him that his father’s best hopes were pinned. The boy’s serious training began at the age of ten in the family workshop.

Throughout his life, Jan Brueghel the Younger developed approximately the same themes in painting as his father, and therefore for a long time was in his shadow. Often, he even signed his works with his father’s name, which causes difficulties in attribution among modern specialists. There are few reliable biographical facts. It is known that on May 7, 1622, the young artist went to Italy along with several other painters. Among them was the landscape painter Joos de Momper with whom Jan Brueghel the Younger has many joint works.

The trip to Italy ended in 1625: the artist had to hastily return home due to the death of his father.

At the age of 24, he became the eldest in a large family and headed a workshop, and a year later he married. Quite quickly, Jan Bruegel became a successful painter, because his name was already famous. In 1630 he was elected dean of the guild of Saint Luke. Orders for the master came not only from the Netherlands, but also from the Austrian court, and from France, where he worked in the 1650s.

Jan Brueghel the Younger had 11 children. Five sons became the successors of the family business, but they did not achieve such success. The painter died on September 1, 1678, when he was 77 years old.