Migration actually began with the iconoclastic riots in 1566, intensified when Spain secured strongholds in Flanders and Brabant in the late 1570s, and became a flood with the fall of Antwerp in 1585 and the years immediately after. In the years following 1585, about 38,000 refugees left Antwerp for other shores.
In this post we will focus on the refugee situations in Haarlem and Amsterdam as they were the main beneficiaries of the Brugelian legacy.
Haarlem
A devastating fire in 1576 had destroyed over 400 homes, leaving large spaces open for development. When refugees flowed out of Flanders beginning in the late 1570s, Haarlem had available space on which to resettle them. Further, a treaty signed with William the Silent in 1981 allowed the city to repurpose the property of former monasteries, thus providing additional capacity for refugee support.
The first wave of refugees were drawn from the linen and cloth industries in the south and were followed by the professional class beginning in 1578. The City Magistrate offered subsidies and other perks to lure professionals to set up shop within the city gates.
Flemish artists were among the professionals who made their way to Haarlem. The iconoclastic wars of the summer of 1576 had introduced challenges to the Antwerp artistic community and many had packed their bags and headed for Amsterdam, Middleburg, and Haarlem.
The inflow of artistic talent helped to jump-start the Haarlem art market:
- Local artists were exposed to new genres
- These new entrants set up workshops in their new homeland
- Talented local youth were taken under the wings of these refugee masters.
Going to Amsterdam was a risky decision for an Antwerp painter as it was still a relative backwater in 1585. From 1585 onwards Amsterdam rapidly caught up with Antwerp thanks to the steady stream of refugees arriving from Flanders and Brabant. What had been a modest provincial town became a bustling metropolis with population rising from 27,000 to 60,000 between 1585 and 1600. This increase in population had a significant positive effect on Amsterdam's economy and as purchasing power grew, so did the demand for art.
The Antwerp painter population decreased by 50% after 1585. One of the beneficiaries, Amsterdam, saw its painter population grow rapidly such that, by 1990, the painter population in both cities was almost equal. Between 1585 and 1600 there were 112 painters registered in Amsterdam, 31 of whom had been born in Antwerp and 24 of the 31 had been active in Antwerp before settling in Amsterdam.
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It is within this environment, and under these conditions, that the Brueghel techniques and topics made their way into the painting scene in the North. The chart below shows the painters who were primarily responsible for the transfer of the Bruegelian themes and techniques from the Spanish Netherlands to the United Provinces.
This group of painters, sometimes referred to as the Amsterdam Circle of Flemish Painters, remained faithful to Bruegelian model and traditions.
Landscape Painting
In the United Provinces, landscapes were primarily done in the Mannerist style. An example from the Utrecht artist Abraham Bloemaert is shown below.
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| Niobe mourning her children, 1591 Abraham Bloemaert |
With the arrival of the Flemings, some of Bruegel's formulas for landscape painting -- especially his thick-forest wilderness -- begin to make their presence felt.
Alongside Jan Bruegel the Elder, Gillis van Coninxloo (1544 - 1607) is the painter usually credited with making the greatest contribution to the development of images in forest settings. Van Coninxloo studied under Pieter Coecke van Aelst (Bruegel the Elder's teacher and father-in-law); taught Pieter Bruegel the Younger; and strongly influenced the works of Jan Bruegel the Elder, Roelandt Savery, and David Vinckboons. Van Coninxloo's early landscapes were influenced by Bruegel the Elder. Note the thick-forest landscape in the painting below.
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| Forest landscape, 1591 Gillis van Coninxloo |
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| Landscape with a hunting party and an overturned wagon David Vinckboons |
Jacob Savery (1545 - 1603) was a student of Hans Bol and himself taught his brother Roelandt Savery (1576 - 1635). All of his landscape paintings in the 1584 - 1586 period show strong Brueglian influences.Unfortunately Savery is also known for forging a number of works by signing Bruegels name to the paintings and ascribing them dates during which Bruegel was still alive. These forgeries have been discovered and the paintings re-assigned to Savery.
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| Landscape with the story of Jephte's Daughter, 1585 Jacob Savery |
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Mountainous Landscape with the return of Jacob from Canaan, 1595
Hans Bol
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Hendrick Goeltzius (1558 - 1616) is usually given pride of place in the establishment of an independent Dutch landscape style because of his drawings of panoramic views in the vicinity of Haarlem. His indebtedness to Bruegel is twofold. First, the dot-and-stipple technique that he used to render light and atmosphere derives from Bruegel. Second, Goeltzius was a Spranger-level Mannerist prior to his own trip to Rome in 1590. Upon his return, he began paying fresh attention to Flemish landscapists such as Hans Bol (and Bol, as we know, was one of the foremost Bruegel the Elder disciples).
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Mountainous Coastal Landscape, 1558 - 1617
Hendrick Goltzius
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Winter Landscape with Skaters
Hans Bol, Coninxloo, the Savery brothers, and Vinckboons all transmitted this style to a new generation in 17th-century Holland.
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Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap, 1565
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
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| Winter, 1570 Hans Bol |
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| Winter Landscape David Vinckboons |
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| The Season of Winter, c. 1565 - 1603 Jacob Savery |
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| Traditional Funfair Hans Bol |
Peasant Subjects
This is a crucial part of Bruegel's contribution and a major staple of the emigré community. David Vinckboons, along with Hans Bol and Roelandt Savery, was instrumental in the development of genre painting in the Netherlands. His Kermis and other village vistas were influenced by Bruegel and he is considered second only to Pieter Bruegel the Younger as a paradigmatic Bruegel follower.
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| Country Fair David Vinckboons |
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| A Blind Hurdy-Gurdy Player David Vinckboons |
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| A Group of Peasants Merrymaking Jacob Savery |
Jan Steen (1610 - 1690) was one of the most famous of the 17th-century peasant-life painters. He ewas born in Antwerp and enjoyed immense popularity during the course of his life. He is linked to Bruegel through the peasant scenes -- a more refined version of Brouwer's efforts -- and his marriage to the daughter of Jan Brueghel the Elder. He was eventually hired by Archduke Leopold William as the Court Painter and the Keeper of the Art Collections.
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| Peasants before an Inn Jan Steen |
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| The Dancing Lesson, c. 1660 - 1679 Jan Steen |
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| Revelry at an Inn, 1674 Jan Steen |
With the turn of the century the Netherlandish style of painting began to recede in the face of the Baroque onslaught but the techniques and topics associated with Pieter Bruegel the Elder were seamlessly incorporated into this new art expression.
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