Not currently on view
In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of August 2026
FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG
Around 1600, three decades after the death of artist Pieter Bruegel (about 1525-1569), a renewed interest in his work sparked the so-called Bruegel Renaissance. Admired for his scenes of everyday life and his realistic landscapes, he was highly praised for faithfully following nature. Appropriately, the inscription on Sadeler's print is a lengthy discussion about the imitation of nature, a matter of great interest to artists at the time. Bruegel is surrounded by Minerva and Mercury (who here personify Art and Eloquence, respectively) and a composite figure of Fortune and Fame. The cherub bearing the skull and torch at bottom is probably Thanatos, a classical symbol of death. He bows to mourn the artist, but as the still-flaming torch indicates, Bruegel's genius and fame are immortal.
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Aegidius Sadeler II|Bartholomeus Spranger — Portrait of Piet
Jan Muller|Hendrick Goltzius — Portrait of Hendrick Goltzius
Ambroise Paré|Etienne Delaune — Portrait of Ambroise Paré, t
Aegidius Sadeler II|Joseph Heintz the Elder|Maerten de Vos —
Peter Paul Rubens|Vincenz Georg Kininger — Portrait of an ol
Vincenz Muschinger|Aegidius Sadeler II — Vincenz Muschinger,
Nicolas Visscher I|Abraham Bloemaert — Portrait of Abraham B
Augustin Hirschvogel — Self Portrait of the Artist and Coat
Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617) — Hans Bol
Robert Nanteuil — Edouard Molé
Ottavio Leoni (Il Padovano) — Ludovico Leoni, a bust-length
Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria|Pieter Soutman|Peter Pau