Who painted Pieter Brueghel de Oude. De val van Icarus?

Pieter Brueghel de Oude. De val van Icarus was painted by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.

Where can I see Pieter Brueghel de Oude. De val van Icarus?

Pieter Brueghel de Oude. De val van Icarus is held by Catholic University of Leuven.

Artwork

Pieter Brueghel de Oude. De val van Icarus

Pieter Brueghel de Oude. De val van Icarus is an unspecified painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. It is held in the collection of the Catholic University of Leuven. Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s oil on panel, De val van Icarus, dates from around 1550 and belongs to the Northern Renaissance.

About this work

Overview

Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s oil on panel, De val van Icarus, dates from around 1550 and belongs to the Northern Renaissance. The work is held in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels (inventory number 4030). It depicts a pastoral scene in which a farmer plows his field while a distant ship sails, the mythic tragedy of Icarus’s fall occurring unnoticed in the background.

Subject & Meaning

The composition juxtaposes ordinary labor with the myth of Icarus, emphasizing the continuity of daily life amid extraordinary events. The farmer’s concentration on his task and the indifferent landscape suggest a commentary on human obliviousness to the hubris and downfall of others, a theme recurrent in Bruegel’s moralizing narratives.

Technique & Style

Executed in oil on wood panel, the painting displays the detailed observation and muted palette characteristic of the Northern Renaissance. Bruegel’s brushwork renders the textures of soil, foliage, and water with precision, while the distant figures are rendered in softer focus, creating depth and a sense of atmospheric perspective.

History & Provenance

The work entered the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium’s collection in the early twentieth century, catalogued under inventory number 4030. It was documented in the university’s glass‑slide archive of art history at KU Leuven, which recorded the piece between 1839 and 1939, though the original photographer remains unidentified.

Context

Bruegel’s painting reflects the sixteenth‑century Northern European fascination with integrating classical mythology into rural settings. By placing the Icarus episode within a Flemish landscape, the artist aligns the ancient story with contemporary concerns about human ambition, labor, and the natural order.