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Glite Dictionary
Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

1 8.8
A 16th-century painter from Flanders who painted detailed landscapes and village life
  • proper noun
: Pieter Bruegel el Viejo
  • The paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder are studied for their vivid depiction of rural life.

Examples

  • The museum featured a special exhibition on Pieter Bruegel the Elder and his influence on Renaissance art.

  • The famous painting Pieter Bruegel the Elder created is called 'The Hunters in the Snow.'

  • Many art historians admire Pieter Bruegel the Elder for his intricate landscape compositions.

  • Many art historians admire Pieter Bruegel the Elder for his unique style.

  • Many art historians admire Pieter Bruegel the Elder for his intricate landscape compositions.

  • The museum featured a special exhibition on Pieter Bruegel the Elder and his influence on Renaissance art.

  • The paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder are studied for their vivid depiction of rural life.

Synonyms

Brueghel
vsPieter Bruegel the Elder
1 9.4

A Flemish painter known for detailed village and landscape scenes

describes them by subject matter rather than ranking among great artists
Pieter Bruegel
vsPieter Bruegel the Elder
1 8.4

A Flemish painter known for detailed scenes of peasant life and landscapes

is the conventional older naming used in many references
Pieter Brueghel
vsPieter Bruegel the Elder
1 8.9

A famous painter from Flanders in the 1500s who painted village and farm life

is the historical spelled form preferred in art history texts
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
vsPieter Bruegel the Elder
9.3

A Flemish painter from the 1500s who painted detailed landscapes and scenes of village life

is the same name but uses a different spelling form
Breughel the Elder
vsPieter Bruegel the Elder
9.3

A painter from Flanders in the 1500s who painted landscapes and peasant life

focuses on the detailed scenes without stressing overall fame
Pieter Breughel
vsPieter Bruegel the Elder
7.9

A Flemish painter from the 1500s known for detailed landscapes and village life scenes

is narrower, focusing on the painter's subjects not regional school

Surface Forms

Pieter Bruegel the Elder main

Morphology

Pieter + Bruegel + the + elder

This is a referential proper name: knowing the words 'the' and 'elder' only signals an older person with that name, but the identities 'Pieter' and 'Bruegel' do not convey the sense 'Flemish painter' and are not semantically compositional. Proper names are language-specific and unpredictable, so a B1 learner cannot derive the MWE's meaning (a specific historical painter) from its parts.

Etymology

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a painter from what is now Belgium who painted busy village scenes and wide landscapes full of tiny people, giving a clear picture of everyday country life. He is called the Elder to show he is the older Pieter Bruegel, so his name now means the original artist famous for detailed pictures of 'country life'.