A monkey wearing a funnel hat. That’s not something you see every day unless you are standing before the Pieter Bruegel the Elder Statue. This curious bronze statue stands right outside the Kapellekerk in Brussels. The sculptor Tom Franzen created it. It depicts the bearded artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder sitting at his easel. Perched on his shoulder is that monkey with the funnel hat.
The Pieter Bruegel the Elder Statue was unveiled in 2019. It marked the 450th anniversary of Bruegel’s death. The statue neatly captures the artist’s weird sense of humor. We don’t know much about the artist. He called himself Pieter Brueghel. He was born Pieter van Breda. The village of Brueghel near Breda was his birthplace. This was sometime between 1525 and 1530.
At some point, he began working in Antwerp. He worked in the print workshop run by Hieronymus Cock. Later, he moved to Brussels. He married his teacher’s daughter in 1562. Sadly, he died only seven years later. His name has caused endless confusion. He changed it at some point to Brueghel. Then he started to sign his works Bruegel without the h in 1558.
Bruegel’s sons and grandsons added to the confusion. The sons went back to the old spelling Brueghel. The grandsons used the shorter Bruegel. Pieter Brueghel the Younger copied his father’s paintings. This makes it difficult to separate the copies from the originals. Pieter Bruegel the Elder was the creative genius. He was an astonishingly versatile artist. He created astonishing works. These ranged from crowded paintings representing old Netherlands proverbs to weird drawings. These drawings featured imaginary creatures inspired by Hieronymus Bosch.
His name is attached to about 45 paintings and 65 drawings. Only a few works remain in Belgium. His painting The Fall of the Rebel Angels is in the Fine Arts Museum in Brussels. The menacing Dulle Griet or Mad Meg is in the Mayer van den Bergh Museum in Antwerp. But the most famous works are in foreign collections. These include The Wedding Feast and The Tower of Babel.
To mark the 450th anniversary of his death, a Bruegel street art trail was created in the Marolles district of Brussels. The works include a large version of his self-portrait near the old market. There is also an updated version of Landscape with the Flight into Egypt. This reflects the migrant crisis.
There was a plan to create a Bruegel museum. It was to be in a 16th-century Brussels townhouse at 123 Hoogstraat. A plaque on the outside wall recorded that Bruegel lived in the house. Only it turns out he didn’t. So the plan was dropped. Bruegel might have been amused. Now, as you stand before the Pieter Bruegel the Elder Statue, remember the artist. Remember his humor and his impact on the art world. Take a moment to appreciate the playful depiction of a great master with a monkey on his shoulder.