The Fall of the Rebel Angels (Bruegel)

The Fall of the Rebel Angels is an oil-on-panel by the Netherlandish Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painted in 1562. It is currently held and exhibited at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels.

The Fall of the Rebel Angels
ArtistPieter Bruegel the Elder
Year1562[1]
TypeOil on panel
Dimensions117 cm × 162 cm (46 in × 64 in)
LocationRoyal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels

Description

Painted in 1562, Bruegel's depiction of this subject is taken from a passage from the Book of Revelation (12, 2-9)[2] and reveals the artist's profound debt to Hieronymus Bosch, especially in the grotesque figures of the fallen angels, shown as half-human, half-animal monsters. Together with Dulle Griet and The Triumph of Death, which have similar dimensions, it was probably painted for the same collector and destined to become part of a series.[3]

The composition with a central figure placed among many smaller figures was favoured by Bruegel at this time, not only in other paintings such as Dulle Griet, but also in the series of engravings of the Vices and the Virtues which he had just completed for the Antwerp publisher Hieronymus Cock. [4] The archangel Michael and his angels are shown by Bruegel in the act of driving the rebel angels from Heaven. Pride was the sin which caused the fall of Lucifer and his companions, and the conflict of good and evil, vice and virtue, is a theme which recurs constantly in Bruegel's work.[5]

  • Details
  • A good angel
  • The fallen angels
  • Fighting the rebels
  • Monstrous demons
  • The Archangel Michael
  • The Great Battle
  • Half-human and half-animal monsters

A reproduction of the painting appears at the beginning of the music video Blood, Sweat & Tears of the K-Pop group BTS.

The painting was also featured in a collaboration between Supreme and Undercover, a Japanese clothing brand by Jun Takahashi. The collection released during the Fall/Winter 2016 season and featured the painting on an all-over-print jacket and a sticker.

References
  1. dated and signed "M.D.LXI BRVEGEL"
  2. King James Version, 12, 2-9
  3. Cf. Pietro Allegretti. Brueghel. Milan:Skira, 2003. ISBN 0-00-001088-X (in Italian)
  4. Compare Bruegel's engravings Pride and Gluttony.
  5. Max Seidel, Roger H. Marijnissen. Bruegel. Pt.2, Random House, 1985. ISBN 0-517-44772-X


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