Jan Brueghel the Elder

The exhibition presents Brueghel's work in the context of the painting production industry in Antwerp around 1600 and includes major major works such as "Large Fish Market" (pictured) with its 53 carefully illustrated ships. Painted with oils on an oak panel in 1603, Brueghel can be seen together with his family and a maid to the left of the dog in the foreground.

Flemish painting flourished from the 15th to the 17th century on account of the wealth generated by overseas trade and a strong banking sector. By the mid-16th century, Antwerp was the second largest city north of the Alps. Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Brueghel, who died in his atelier of cholera in 1625, all lived there. Pictured: Brueghel's "Windmills on a Broad Plain" (1611).

Brueghel often collaborated on works with his friends, painting flowers or backgrounds for them. Brueghel painted "Saint Hubert's Vision" (1615-30) with Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). Legend has it that Saint Hubert converted to Christianity after seeing a cross appear between a buck's antlers when he tried to kill the animal. Rubens painted the figures, while Brueghel completed the landscape.

The Brueghel family were a creative lot. Jan Brueghel the Elder was the son of Flemish Renaissance painter and printmaker Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525-1569), the brother of Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1636), a painter nicknamed "Hell Brueghel," and the father of Jan Brueghel the Younger (1601-1678), a Baroque painter. Pieter Brueghel painted "The Peasants' Wedding" (pictured) around 1630.

A team of conservators from the Doerner Institute has used x-ray, infrared and stereoscopic images to reveal details about Brueghel's working process and characteristic techniques. The exhibition presents the results of this research, illustrating how the artist outlined motifs with a small number of loose brushstrokes, then added accents. Pictured here is one of his studies of birds c. 1610.

Like many Flemish Baroque painters, Brueghel traveled to Italy, to Rome, Naples and Milan, where he met important patrons and was inspired by the art of classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. Brueghel's "Aeneas in the Underworld" (1600) is based on Virgil's Aeneid and takes inspiration from the earlier works of Dutch painter Hieronymous Bosch (1450-1516).

Brueghel started out his career under the close guidance of his renowned father, though he quickly developed his own unique style. His naturalistic small-format landscapes, flower arrangements and richly detailed allegories paved the way for Flemish Baroque painters. The painter was nicknamed "Velvet" Brueghel on account of his rich and delicate textures. Pictured: "Calvary Hill" (1598)