For the first time ever, a single exhibition unites Bruegel’s works in different media. Paintings, drawings and prints from different parts of the world meet at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.
This was made possible by international collaboration between scholars, experts and lenders.

Paintings, drawings and prints from all over the world are meeting at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.

We would like to thank the many institutions and lenders who have generously loaned us these fragile artworks. Bruegel’s works are among their most precious holdings.
Three early paintings by Bruegel are often referred to as Wimmelbilder (busy pictures that are teeming with countless figures). They are The Battle between Carnival and Lent (1559), The Proverbs (c. 1559, on view in Berlin), and Children’s Games from 1560.

One of the characteristics shared by these Wimmelbilder is an elevated viewpoint. The raised line of the horizon creates a bird’s eye view: gazing down on the busy scene, we discover a wealth of details.
Particularly interesting is the receding perspective of the row of houses that line the street at top right, which is reminiscent of Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554). He wrote treatises on architecture that were published by Bruegel’s father-in-law Pieter Coecke van Aelst in the sixteenth century. In these treatises, Serlio also discussed ’scenery’ and ‘stage design’ for painters.
Another, obvious, seminal aspect of these Wimmelbilder is the almost unbelievable number of figures and details that are just waiting to be discovered.