Ambrosius Brueghel - Holy Virgin and Child - WGA03547

Ambrosius Brueghel (; baptized 10 August 1617, Antwerp – 9 February 1675) was a Flemish painter from the famous Brueghel family of artists. Less prolific and less well-known than a number of his family members, his oeuvre is not very well understood and is believed to comprise Baroque still lifes, garland paintings as well as

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...

.Hans J. Van Miegroet, "Ambrosius Breughel." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 9 March 2017

Life

Ambrosius Brueghel was born in Antwerp as the son of

Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collabora ...

and Catharina van Marienburg. His father was one of the leading painters in Antwerp and the son of the famous Renaissance painter

Pieter Brueghel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called gen ...

.Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, pp. 459–460 His older (half)-brother

Jan Brueghel the Younger Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger (, ; ; 13 September 1601 – 1 September 1678) was a Flemish Baroque painter. He was the son of Jan Brueghel the Elder, and grandson of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, both prominent painters who ...

was also a painter and took over the workshop of their father on his death in 1625. His sister Anna married the prominent court painter David Teniers the Younger in 1637. Ambrosius is known to have collaborated with his brother-in-law on some landscapes with genre scenes. His sister Paschasia married the painter Hieronymous van Kessel the Younger.Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden, ''Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool'', Antwerpen, 1883, pp. 1098–1101 Another sister Catharina married the painter Jan Baptist Borrekens. As his father died when Ambrosius was only seven years old, he was placed under the guardianship of prominent painters

Hendrick van Balen Hendrick van Balen or Hendrick van Balen I (c. 1573–1575 in Antwerp – 17 July 1632 in Antwerp) was a Flemish Baroque painter and stained glass designer. Hendrick van Balen specialised in small cabinet pictures often painted on a copper ...

Cornelis Schut Cornelis Schut (13 May 1597 – 29 April 1655) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, engraver and tapestry designer who specialized in religious and mythological scenes. Presumed to have trained under Rubens, he treated Counter-Reformation ...

and

Pieter de Jode the Elder Petrus, or Pieter de Jode I or Pieter de Jode the Elder (1570 – 9 August 1634), was a Flemish printmaker, draughtsman, publisher and painter active principally active in Antwerp. He was active as a reproductive artist who created many prints a ...

. Hendrick van Balen fostered his artistic training. It is possible that Ambrosius trained with his brother Jan. Ambrosius is believed to have had plans to travel abroad after 10 September 1639 as he made a will on that date. The making of a will was customary at the time for persons who were about to embark on a long trip. It is not clear whether he ever made that trip or whether it was very short as a few months after that date he is still recorded in Antwerp and in August 1641 he is in Antwerp making a settlement with his brother Jan and his brother-in-law David Teniers who were his new guardians. Ambrosius Brueghel became a member of the Antwerp

Guild of Saint Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...

in 1645. In 1649 he became a member of the

chamber of rhetoric Chambers of rhetoric ( nl, rederijkerskamers) were dramatic societies in the Low Countries. Their members were called Rederijkers (singular Rederijker), from the French word 'rhétoricien', and during the 15th and 16th centuries were mainly inte ...

''De

Violieren The Violieren (wallflower or gillyflower) was a chamber of rhetoric that dates back to the 15th century in Antwerp, when it was a social drama society with close links to the Guild of Saint Luke.A. A. Keersmaekers, ''Geschiedenis van de Antwerpse R ...

''. On 21 February of the same year he married Anna Clara van Triest who was from a well-to-do family. The couple would have four children. The artist was well-respected in the community and was appointed 'wijkmeester' (warden) of his district. In 1650, Ambrosius Brueghel visited his brother Jan in Paris. He served as deacon of the Guild in 1653, 1665, 1671 and 1673.Ambrosius Brueghel
at

The Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

Work

Ambrosius Brueghel's work has been described as being in the same style as that of his father. The problem is that only very few works have been attributed to this artist and many of the attributions have been challenged. Regularly still lifes have been attributed to Ambrosius Brueghel, but none of these attributions are firm. A

vanitas A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the temporality, transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-kn ...

still life discovered in 1966 of a large vase of flowers marked AB was attributed to Ambrosius but it is now given to Adriaen van Nieulandt. The only painting that has been attributed to the artist with some level of certainty is the ''Holy Virgin and Child in a flower garland'' (Saint James Church, Antwerp). This painting falls in the genre of garland paintings, a special type of still life developed in Antwerp by artists including his father

, his guardian

Frans Francken the Younger Frans Francken the Younger (1581 in Antwerp, 1581 – 6 May 1642, in Antwerp) was a Flemish painter who created altarpieces and furniture panels and gained his reputation chiefly through his small and delicate cabinet pictures with historical, m ...

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...

and

Daniel Seghers Daniël Seghers or Daniel Seghers (3 December 1590 – 2 November 1661) was a Flemish Jesuit brother and Flemish Baroque painter, painter who specialized in flower still lifes. He is particularly well known for his contributions to the genre of ...

. They typically show a flower garland around a devotional image or portrait. This genre was inspired by the cult of veneration and devotion to

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

prevalent at the Habsburg court (then the rulers over the Southern Netherlands) and in Antwerp generally.Ursula Härting, ''Review of Susan Merriam, Seventeenth-Century Flemish Garland Paintings''. Still Life, Vision and the Devotional Image
/ref> Landscapes by Ambrosius have been recorded in the estate of the family of his guardian Hendrick van Balen. A landscape signed and dated Ambrosius Breughel fecit 1653 was in 1876 in the collection of J. Lenglart in Lille, while another Landscape, allegedly with figures by his brother-in-law David Teniers the Younger, signed Ambrosius Broeghel, was in the Fahnenburg near Düsseldorf in 1894. The location of these paintings is now unknown.

Family tree

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brueghel, Ambrosius Flemish Baroque painters Flemish still life painters Flemish landscape painters Artists from Antwerp 1617 births 1675 deaths Painters from Antwerp

Ambrosius Ambrosius or Ambrosios (a Latin adjective derived from the Ancient Greek word ἀμβρόσιος, ''ambrosios'' "divine, immortal") may refer to: Given name: *Ambrosius Alexandrinus, a Latinization of the name of Ambrose of Alexandria (before 21 ...