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Abstract:

Among Bruegel’s surviving drawings the preparatory drawings for prints, which he designed for the publisher Hieronymus Cock, make up an important group. In these pen drawings Bruegel shows himself an extremely gifted draughtsman, creating detailed and complex compositions that served as examples for the engravers. Another technically and stylistically distinct group in his drawn oeuvre are the free pen drawings of wooded landscapes with large trees that form the so called ‘Lugt Group’. In the context of the Fingerprint Project (2016-2020) - an interdisciplinary research project involving art history, conservation science and art technological research focusing on the graphic work of Pieter Bruegel - three drawings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder from the Print Room of the Royal Library in Brussels and one from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts could be studied in detail. This paper will focus on the working methods, materials and techniques Bruegel used while creating these two types of drawings. The laboratory set-up to examine the drawings was composed of analytical and imaging techniques, combined with visual, microscopic and conservation assessment. Complementary MA-XRF analyses and multispectral imaging (PLD – Microdome) completed the study of the materiality of the four drawings. The Vienna symposium is part of an important exhibition and research project on the creative processes of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and is organized by Elke Oberthaler (Head of Paintings Conservation, Kunsthistorisches Museum), Sabine Pénot (Curator for Netherlandish and Dutch Painting, Kunsthistorisches Museum), Manfred Sellink (Director, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp and Professor of Art History, Ghent University) and Ron Spronk (Professor of Art History, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario and Radboud University, Nijmegen), with Alice Hoppe-Harnoncourt (Kunsthistorisches Museum). The exhibition presents the findings of this study, including technical investigations and art historical and provenance research, to the public. Showcasing his paintings, drawings and prints, this seminal, first-ever major monographic exhibition on Pieter Bruegel the Elder opens on October 2, 2018. The symposium will bring together renowned Bruegel scholars, conservators, and scientists who will offer new insights into Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s paintings, drawings and prints. We will focus at material and technical aspects. The symposium offers a unique opportunity for discussion and exchange, and to see Bruegel‘s original works that have been assembled for the exhibition. All papers presented at the symposium will be included in autumn 2019 in an essay volume published by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in collaboration with Hannibal Publishing. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Bassano Hall