Artwork
The Fall of the Rebel Angels
The Fall of the Rebel Angels is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Pieter Brueghel the Elder. It dates from 1562 and is held in the collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
About this work
Overview
The Fall of the Rebel Angels is a 1562 oil-on-panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, measuring 117cm x 162cm. It is housed in the Oldmasters Museum, part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, in Brussels.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts the fallen angels being banished from heaven, led by Lucifer. Bruegel's interpretation features a chaotic scene of angels and fantastical creatures tumbling from the sky, suggesting a lost battle still being fought.
Technique & Style
Bruegel's work is characterized by dark, earthy tones punctuated by flashes of red and white. The composition is dense and chaotic, with figures tangled in a mess of limbs, feathers, and broken objects. The artist's use of oil paint allows for detailed rendering of textures and expressions.
History & Provenance
The painting was once attributed to Hieronymus Bosch, reflecting Bruegel's debt to earlier Netherlandish artists. Bruegel was influenced by artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Frans Floris I, and drew on his own previous works to create the fantastical creatures in the painting.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder ( BROY-gəl, US also BROO-gəl; Dutch: ; c.
Museum
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
Continue through works from the same source collection.
Temptation of St. Athony
The Procession to Calvary
The Haywain Triptych
Juno in the Underworld
Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych
The Temptation of Saint Anthony
The Last Judgement
Landscape with the Legend of St Christopher
The Temptations of St. Anthony
The temptation of St Antony
The Fall of the Rebel Angels