Pieter Brueghel y El Duque de Alba

7/30/2019 Pieter Brueghel y El Duque de Alba

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Peter Bruegel and the Duke of AlbaAuthor(s): Stanley Ferber

Source: Renaissance News, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Autumn, 1966), pp. 205-219Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Renaissance Society of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2858528 .

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BOLLANI, CORRESPONDENT OF ARETINOOLLANI, CORRESPONDENT OF ARETINOin theDialogodelleCortiof 1538.28 t is interesting o speculatewhat in-fluence Aretino might have had on the young Bollani in the realm ofideason social structureand what use would have been made of suchideas by Bollani the politician, Bollani the mediator, or Bollani thechurch reformer.UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

28 'L'idea del trattato "de la liberta e de la servitu" non cadde affatto dalla mente dell'A-retino. Gia si potrebbe notare che le Lettere,specie nel Primo Libro e nel Secondo, svol-gono quel tema con tal abbondanza e coerenza di particolari che non sarebbe difficilecondurre in tal senso una interessante lettura, ma poi e da ricordare che, fuori delle Let-tere,quella idea partori, a poca distanza, il Dialogo delleCorti, che e del I538.' (Innamorati,pp. 224-225.)

PeterBruegel nd heDukeofAlba*by STANLEY FERBER

W HEN dealingwith artistsactiveduringperiodsof crisesand tur-moil, it is not only desirable,but advantageousor arthistoriansto examine their works within the given historicalcontext. There arefew artists o whom thisapproach an be appliedmorebeneficially hanto PeterBruegel, the Elder.Living his lastyears (d. I569) in Brusselsduringa period of intenseconflict between NetherlandishProtestantsand the forces of CatholicSpain,duringa periodwhen religiousmotives and nationalist ntcrestswere barelydiscerniblerom eachother,l it would be surprisingndeedif so acute an observerof his surroundings sBruegeldid not give spe-cific visual expressionto the events of his time. It has been generallyrecognizedthatBruegelboth reflectsandmakes allusionto contempo-raryevents.2But the literatures strangelysilent when it comes to any

* I would like to acknowledge a grant from the Research Foundation of the State Uni-versity of New York which enabled me to complete my research on this problem.1 See B. Vlekke, Evolutionof the Dutch Nation (New York, I945), p. 136 andJ. L. Mot-ley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic (New York, I855), pp. I03 f.

2 See G. Gliick, The Paintings of Bruegel (Vienna, I934), passim; F. Grossman, PieterBruegel, the Paintings (London, 1955), passim; and J. Lassaigne and R. Delevoy, FlemishPainting (Lausanne, 1958), pp. 48 f. A very recent exception to this general viewpoint isthat of P. Colacicchi, All the Paintings of Pieter Bruegel (New York, 1961), who writes,'We must now leave aside all the arbitraryand anachronistic interpretations of Bruegel'sworks proposed by quite a few critics who, compelled to solve many a puzzle in order to

in theDialogodelleCortiof 1538.28 t is interesting o speculatewhat in-fluence Aretino might have had on the young Bollani in the realm ofideason social structureand what use would have been made of suchideas by Bollani the politician, Bollani the mediator, or Bollani thechurch reformer.UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

28 'L'idea del trattato "de la liberta e de la servitu" non cadde affatto dalla mente dell'A-retino. Gia si potrebbe notare che le Lettere,specie nel Primo Libro e nel Secondo, svol-gono quel tema con tal abbondanza e coerenza di particolari che non sarebbe difficilecondurre in tal senso una interessante lettura, ma poi e da ricordare che, fuori delle Let-tere,quella idea partori, a poca distanza, il Dialogo delleCorti, che e del I538.' (Innamorati,pp. 224-225.)

PeterBruegel nd heDukeofAlba*by STANLEY FERBER

W HEN dealingwith artistsactiveduringperiodsof crisesand tur-moil, it is not only desirable,but advantageousor arthistoriansto examine their works within the given historicalcontext. There arefew artists o whom thisapproach an be appliedmorebeneficially hanto PeterBruegel, the Elder.Living his lastyears (d. I569) in Brusselsduringa period of intenseconflict between NetherlandishProtestantsand the forces of CatholicSpain,duringa periodwhen religiousmotives and nationalist ntcrestswere barelydiscerniblerom eachother,l it would be surprisingndeedif so acute an observerof his surroundings sBruegeldid not give spe-cific visual expressionto the events of his time. It has been generallyrecognizedthatBruegelboth reflectsandmakes allusionto contempo-raryevents.2But the literatures strangelysilent when it comes to any

* I would like to acknowledge a grant from the Research Foundation of the State Uni-versity of New York which enabled me to complete my research on this problem.1 See B. Vlekke, Evolutionof the Dutch Nation (New York, I945), p. 136 andJ. L. Mot-ley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic (New York, I855), pp. I03 f.

2 See G. Gliick, The Paintings of Bruegel (Vienna, I934), passim; F. Grossman, PieterBruegel, the Paintings (London, 1955), passim; and J. Lassaigne and R. Delevoy, FlemishPainting (Lausanne, 1958), pp. 48 f. A very recent exception to this general viewpoint isthat of P. Colacicchi, All the Paintings of Pieter Bruegel (New York, 1961), who writes,'We must now leave aside all the arbitraryand anachronistic interpretations of Bruegel'sworks proposed by quite a few critics who, compelled to solve many a puzzle in order to

20505

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RENAISSANCE NEWSbut the broadest,most general tatementsconcerninghe degreeofBruegel's artistic involvement. This paper, following a suggestion firstmade in 1891 and almost completely disregarded by subsequent scholar-ship,3 proposes that when regarded in their proper, specific historicalcontext, certain ofBruegel's works were specific political commentaries,pointed and potentially dangerous to their creator.One such work is 'The Massacre of the Innocents' (KunsthistorischesMuseum, Vienna) signed 'BRVEG.. .' in the lower right corner (see Fig.I). A date of I566 has been suggested for it on the basis of considering ita companion piece to 'The Numbering at Bethlehem' (Musees Royauxdes Beaux-Arts, Brussels, dated I566).4 The date of 1563/64 has alsobeen suggested, as has a date of I565-67.5 The date of the work there-fore is very much an open question, and critical; in arriving at a date,we may be able to determine if the panel is more specifically topicalthan heretofore recognized.The painting depicts a snow-covered Lowlands village. Bare trees al-most silhouetted against a cold gray sky offer a sharp contrast to thecolor and action of the central events. Villagers run helter-skelter, ex-pressions of amazed disbelief and grief etched on their faces. They andtheir children are being chased, caught, and massacred by armoredknights and foot soldiers. Despite the horror implicit in the scene,Bruegel has depicted it with a seemingly detached, dispassionate atti-tude; one that heightens the very horror avoided. One figure is espe-cially singled out. Located in the exact center of the panel facing theviewer is a rider on a white horse, clad entirely in black. He is the onlyperson in the entire scene dressed totally in black. This feature remainsalmost completely unnoticed for the figure is tiny and set in the farexplain their meanings, have ended by seeing political allusions in almost every one ofthem' (pp. 17-18).

3 The noted Belgian scholar Henri Hymans first offered the suggestion that the Dukeof Alba might be present in Bruegel's 'The Massacre of the Innocents,' 'Pierre Brueghel leVieux,' Gazette des Beaux Arts I (1891), 31.4 R. Bastalaer and G. Hulin de Loo, PierreBrzueghel'Ancien (Brussels, 1907), pp. 128-129. However, the arguments for this association have been effectively answered by M.Dvorak, who wrote, 'Ob die Volkszahlung und der Kindermord als gegenstiicke gedachtsein konnten, bleibt fraglich, weil bei Bruegels gewohnheit das gleiche Format nicht vielbedeutet und weil die beiden Stoffe den sich fast widersprechenden Erzahlungen derEvangelien Matthai und Luca entnommen sind' (Die Gemalde PeterBrluegelsdes Alteren,[Vienna, 1941], p. 86).5 The earlier date has been suggested by C. de Tolnay, PierreBruegelL'Ancien (Brus-sels, 1935), p. 8--the later date by F. Grossman.

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FIG. I 'The Massacre of the Innocents,' photo: courtesy Kunsthistorisches Museu


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RENAISSANCE NEWSmiddle-groundof the composition. But a number of ratherdiscreetcompositionaldevices have been employed to call our attentionto thisfigure.He is surroundedby a largecontingentof mountedknightscar-rying their lancesvertically.However, one knight to the right of thegroup carrieshis lance at anangle pointing directlyto a bannerfloatingabove the headof the figurein black (seeFig. 2). Although the bannerfloatingabove this figure bears an heraldicdevice, it is not paintedinsufficientdetailto allow positiveidentification.Thereis no other obvi-ous evidenceto permita definitive identificationof this centralfigure:the man who presidesover the horrendous cene of the massacre n theforeground.

Close examinationof the face of the 'blackrider'shows an old manwith a long, pointed gray beard and a full, droopingmustache.Beardstylesof the mid- andlate sixteenthcenturyfavoredthe shorter,moresquared, spade'or 'shovel' beardshape.6Almost nowhere in Bruegel'spaintingscan a long, pointed beard be found.7Hence, the anomalousbeardof the figure in black appears o be more than a simple genretouch. In examiningsixteenth-centuryportraits o arriveat a generali-zation concerningbeard styles, those of FerdinandAlvares,Duke ofAlba, areuniquein the consistencywith which they depict the Duke.Variousengravingsof the late sixteenthcentury,at leasttwo contem-porary with Alba's reign in the Lowlands, show him with the long,pointed graybeardanddroopingmustachealready eenin the figureinblackin the Bruegel painting (seeFig. 3).8The Duke of Albawassixty yearsold in the winterof 1567/68 whenhe arrived n the Lowlands to replaceMargaretof Parma asgovernor.He had alreadyearnedfor himself the epithet 'Black Alba' becauseof6 In examining portraits of the sixteenth century, in painting as well as graphic media,for contemporary portraits of Alba, the author was struck by the consistency of beardtypes depicted. Thus the beard on the figure in black stood out all the more as a distinc-tive feature.7 There are only four works containing a figure with such a beard. They are 'The Ad-oration of the Magi,' London; 'The Adoration of the Magi,' Brussels; 'St.John Preachingin the Wilderness,' Budapest; and 'The Misanthrope,' Naples. In the 'Magi' panels thebeard in each case is on one magus and is clearly typological. In the Budapest panel, thebeard appears on one of the disciple-like figures standing behind St. John. Again, thebeard is clearly typological, and so with the Naples panel. In none of the examples doesthis feature stand out as a specific characteristic, as in 'The Massacre of the Innocents.'8 I wish to thank Herr W. Baumann of the Portrait and Picture Collections of theNationalbibliothek, Vienna, for his assistancein finding this engraving as well as procur-ing a photograph of it. I wish also to thank the Nationalbibliothek for permission to re-produce Fig. 3.

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PETER BRUEGEL AND THE DUKE OF ALBA 211earlieractivitieson behalf of the Inquisition,partlyas a figureof speechandpartlybecauseof hispredilection or blackclothing.The possibilityof sheercoincidence s alwayspresent n such an observation;however,I believethere s sufficient vidence,albeitcircumstantial,o warrant heidentificationof this singular igure as the Duke of Alba.In the latespringor earlysummerof 1567theDuke of Albawas dis-patchedto theLowlandsat the behestof Philip i to replaceMargaretofParma as regent;he was chargedwith the taskof crushing he varioushereticmovementsflourishing n the Netherlands.9Due to antagonismbetweenFranceandSpainAlba wasforcedto leadhis troopsby boat toItaly, over the Alps and down the Rhine River to the Lowlands.Hereachedhis destination,Brussels, n August of 1567.In that sameyearBruegel paintedhis 'Conversionof St. Paul' (seeFig. 4). The relevanceof this work, other thanits date, is the presenceof a single, black-cladhorsemanamidst a colorful multitude of knights, cavaliers,and footsoldiers.An imposing processionwends its way along a tortuousmountaintrail.Above andto the rightof center,partiallyost in the composition,is the sceneof Paulbeing thrown from his horseby his miraculousvi-sion. The sharpperspectiveof the view causesPaul to appear iny andinsignificant n comparison o the large, foreground figures. (Thisis anot uncommon Manneristcompositional device, one employed byBruegel in suchworks as the 'Carryingof the Cross' and 'The MerryWay to the Gallows.') Predominating n the processionsurroundingPaul aremen in red and multicoloreduniforms,andknightsandnobleson horseback.Color andlight pervadethe scene.The absenceof snowon the mountaintopsandthevistasof green n thevalleybelow indicatelate spring or summeras the season of this event.10Throughout thecolor and movement of the work a singularfigure, dressedentirelyinblack, commands our attention.He is depicted astride a white horsewith his back to the spectator.Compositionally,he is the focalpoint oftheviewer'sattention, or thesharpdiagonalof thepathrising rom the

9 SeeW. Prescott,History ftheReignof PhiliptheSecond(Philadelphia,883), II, I33 f.10Neitherthe GospelsnorApocryphamakeanyreference o theseasonof theyearofPaul'sconversion.However, the GoldenLegendetsthe dateatJanuary 5, which is stillthe FeastDay of the Conversionof St. Paulin the Roman Missal.Most of Bruegel'scontemporariesr nearcontemporaries,uchasJanBellegambe,de-pict the scenewithout any reference o the timeof year (as n the Gospelaccountof theevent).HenceBruegel'sdeparturerom iconographicandliturgical raditiongainssig-nificancen specifyinga particulareason.Taken n conjunctionwith thespecific,Alpinelocale, the historical opicalityof the paintingbecomes more convincing.



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PETER BRUEGEL AND THE DUKE OF ALBAlower eft cornereadsdirectlyohim,and he argemountediguresnthe owerright ooktohim.He,more hanPaul, sessentialo the totalcomposition.

If we accept heconcordancef dateof'The Conversionf St.Paul'and he historicalventofAlba'scrossingheAlpsasmore hancoinci-dence,the question mmediately risesas to why Bruegelchosethisparticularubjectmatteras his meansof depictinga contemporaryevent.An answer o thisquestionwouldalsogiveusafullernsightntoBruegel'sTheMassacref theInnocents.' irst, ndperhapsoremost,I wouldsuggesthatBruegel ouldnothelpbut be struckby theparal-lelsbetweenAlbaandSt.Paul.Bothmenhadgained eputationssde-fenders f orthodoxyagainsthe incursions f anyhereticbeliefs.Fur-ther,both men, historically,were involved n missionsdesigned omaintainhehegemony ftheirFaithn thefaceofinternal ndexternalrebellion.Therefore,t wouldnot beamiss o conjecturehatBruegel,cognizantof anddrawingupontis parallel, hoseto depictAlba'scrossingof the Alpsas a contemporarye-enactmentf the Biblicalevent."1We mightalsosuggest hatBruegel,uncertain s to theout-comeof Alba'sjourney o theLowlands,washopefullyuggestinghatAlbamightreceivea visionsimilaro Paul's.The fact(ifit canbeaccepted ssuch) hatBruegelutilized ontem-porary ventsn'TheConversionf St.Paul,'and hesingularature fthefigure n black n thispanel,allowsus to expanduponthesugges-tionsputforth nregardo 'TheMassacreftheInnocents.' hedoubts,questions, r uncertaintieshatBruegelmayhave hadregardingheoutcomeof Alba'sjourneyto the Lowlands,and whateverwishfulthinkingor tacitoptimismmaybe presentn 'The Conversion f St.Paul,'musthavebeenquicklydispelled.ntheautumn f 1567Alba n-stitutedhis 'InnerCouncil.'TheCouncil unctiDneds a boardof theInquisition, ith Albaat itshead.By thatwinter hebloodlettingar-riedout in thenameof theCouncil arnedorthisregime heepithet'theReignof Blood.'12TheMassacref theInnocents'anthusbe re-garded sa notunexpectedeaction yBruegelo theeventsollowingAlba'sarrival n the Netherlands. e-examininghe painting n thislight,one s notsurprisedofind herepetitionf thesingleblackfigurefound n 'The Conversion f St. Paul.'The horsemanwho supervised

11I am grateful to Dr. I. Zupnick for this suggestion. A further clarification of Brue-gel's meaning is suggested by the quotation from Henri Nicolaes. See note I8 below.12 Prescott, I, 170.

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RENAISSANCE NEWSthearduousourneyacrossheAlpsnowsupervisesheslaughter e seebeforeus.Wherethe outcomeof tdejourney s still in doubt('TheConversionf St.Paul') he man nblackhashisback o thespectator.Whentheresnolongeranyquestion stotheoutcomeof thisourney,he faces hespectatornd srevealed, s describedbove,withthedis-tinctivehirsute haracteristicsf the Dukeof Alba.That the scene andeventsdescribed reclosely nterwovenwithBruegel's Massacre f the Innocents' s borne out by a vignettewithinthe arger anel.MargaretfParma aHapsburg)sregent f theNeth-erlandsadadopted relativelymildattitudeowardhevarious ereticsects ctiven theLowCountries.twas orthisveryreasonhatPhilipndispatchedlba oreplaceMargaret.ersonally,Margaret as ncensedandoutragedhatPhilip awfit to replace er.13 hecontrast etweenthe regimesof the SpanishandAustrianregents s depicted n Bruegel'spanelandaidsna morepositivedentificationf Alba.To therightofcenter, n the middle-ground, e see an unarmed ountedcavalierclothedn a doubletwiththedouble-headedapsburgagleon it. Heis surroundedy a groupof villagersn attitudesf entreaty, eggingformercy.Heresponds ithagesture f utterhelplessness14seeFig.5).If thiscomplete arallel etweenhistoricalventsandwhatBruegelhasdepicted n the two panelss to be regardedsmorethansheercoincidence, e should oncludehat TheMassacref theInnocents'waspainted atein thewinterof 1567or early n I568. Beyondthereso-lutionoftheproblem fdatinghiswork, hisparallelismidsn under-standinghe oft-cited, requently ebated emarks f Bruegel's arlybiographer, arelvan Mander.[Bruegel, late in life] made many skillful and beautiful drawings; he supplied themwith inscriptionswhich, at the time, were too sharp,andwhich he hadburnedby hiswife duringhis lastillness,becauseof remorse,or fearthat the most disagreeable on-sequencesmight grow out of them.s1

13 'It afflicted er [Margaret]o thebottomof hersoulto havebeenthustreatedby theking,' ibid.,155.14A banner with a blue field and yellow sunburst hangs from a staff above the door-way of thebuilding o the ightof this'Hapsburg'avalier,A studyof thecoats-of-armsof Austrian and Bavarian nobilty failed to reveal any device similar to the one on thebanner.However,in theMinoriteChurch n Viennathere s a shield,with the identicalemblem,frescoedon thewestwallof thegallery(thesiteof thepresentorgan oft) datingfrom the late fifteenthcentury.This etblem has been identified as that of WolfgangPiichler,Bishopof theMinoriteOrder n Vienna,ca. I475.However,Ihavebeen unableto find any traceof his family or lineage,and it would thusbe importunate o assertany concrete relationship.15Het Schilderboecktrans.,C. van de Wall) [New York, 1936],p. 152.

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RENAISSANCE NEWSMost Bruegel studentshave shied away from drawingany definiteconclusionsfrom van Mander'sremarks.However, two recentworkshave alludedto a political-religiouscommitment on Bruegel'spart.16

Even in theseworks, the authorsdo not draw the seeminglyapparentconclusions elative o specificpaintingsbyBruegel,nordo theyattemptto identify any of Bruegel's 'antagonists.'17At thispoint in Bruegelscholarshipt would appear o be foolhardyto align our artistwith any of the many anti-Spanish,anti-Catholicforces in the Netherlands.18However, the evidence of the paintingsconsideredabove shouldmakeus extremelyattentive to thepertinenceof Bruegel'sfriendshipwith AbrahamOrtelius.19Without wishing toadoptthe 'guiltby association' ttitude, n Bruegel's ifetime,friendshipwith such'libertines' sOrtelius,was not to be assumedlightly.20 nthis

16 For example, J. Lassaigne and R. Delevoy, and I. L. Zupnick, 'The Netherlands'Agony and Pieter Bruegel (I559-I569),' ArtJournal xxii, No. 4 (I964), 283-289.17 However, earlier critics and commentators on Bruegel were not so loathe to take aposition. Cf. I. Zupnick, p. 283, n. I. An even stronger position was taken by the amateurcollector and bibliophile, Baron de Reiffenberg ('Notice sur Un Tableau Satirique relatifau Gouvernement du Duc D'Albe,' Bulletin du Bibliophile v (May 1838), 99-I04). Hecredits a panel, in the collection of M. Faure, editor of The Independent,o Bruegel. It isdescribed as allegorical and depicted Alba enthroned, holding a chain binding female fig-ures symbolic of the seventeen lowland provinces. Standing beside the Duke is CardinalGranvelle. Counts Egmont and Horn are shown receiving the death blow. A devilishfigure whispers in Alba's ear. The background showed the razing of a Netherlandish vil-lage. All of the figures in the painting were labelled, and in addition it carried a Flemishlegend. Cf. Reiffenberg, ibid.,p. I02.The only evidence of the one-time existence of such a work is an anonymous sixteenth-century engraving, now in the Boymans Museum, Rotterdam. The engraving is not inBruegel's style, nor does it follow exactly the panel Reiffenberg attributed to Bruegel,but it is close enough in its main features, to lend credence to his arguments, and ours.18 One of these was a group known as the 'Schola Charitas,' led by Henri Nicolaes.Nicolaes believed, 'Toutes les religions son les symboles d'une seule verite et la SainteEcriture n'a qu'un allegorique: elle revet d'une forme generale les evenements de la viequotidienne.' Cf. C. de Tolnay, pp. 8 f.19This friendship is attested to by the gift of a painting Bruegel made to Abraham Or-telius. Cf. G. Gliick, 'A Newly Discovered Painting by Brueghel the Elder,' BurlingtonMagazine LVI (May 1930), 284-286.20 Along with Ortelius, other well-known members of the 'Schola Charitas' were suchmen, active in the struggle against Spain, as Christophe Plantin (cf. Max Rooses, Chris-tophePlantin,Antwerp, I890, p. 67 f.) and Dirck Coornhert. Coornhert was a theologian,political theorist, and engraver. He wrote a manifesto in favor of William of Orange inI566 and was active in the struggle against Spain until imprisoned at the Hague. Hewrote in favor of tolerance and an end to capital punishment for heretics. For a completediscussion of the role of artists and intellectuals in the struggle against Spain, see H. Pi-renne, Histoire de Belgique (Brussels, I923), II, 2I5 f.On the other hand, Ch. Terlindens (Revue Beige d'Archeologieet d'Histoire de'Art, xn,

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PETER BRUEGEL AND THE DUKE OF ALBAlight,Bruegelwouldnotbejustanobserver f dailyevents,butpartofa group, ntellectuallyctive n thestruggleagainstSpain. n no wayshould hisbe construedo characterizeruegelas an amoral r atheis-ticpropagandist,utrather eshouldbe viewedas aphilosophicalndspiritualeirof Erasmus,he 'sageof Rotterdam.'The link to Erasmianthought,pertinento the tenorof Bruegel'stimes indspartial xpressionn oneofBruegel's ngravings,TheBattleof theMoneyPotsandStrongBoxes'(seeFig.6). There s a bilingualinscriptionFlemishndLatin)beneath hedepiction f armedmoneypotsandstrongboxesfightingoneanother,hedding bloodytrainofcoins.The Flemishinscriptioneads:Go to your imoneyboxes, barrelsand chests! It is all for gold and goods this fightingandquarreling!Though they tell you differently,don't you believe it. Thatswhy wecarry he lance which never failedus.They arelooking for meansfor puttingusdown;but there would be no wars if there were nothing to plunder.21

Thesentiment ereexpressed,esultingromtheplunder f Nether-landish itiesby Spanishroopsandfromexcessiveaxation,sanechoof Erasmusn one of hispolemicsagainstwar:There arethose who sow the seeds of dissentionbetween their townshipsin order tofleece the poor unhindered and to satisfytheir gluttony by the hunger of innocentcitizens.22

Inaletter o theEnglish umanistColet,dated1518,Erasmus rites,'Thepeople ound anddevelop owns,thefolly of princesdevastatesthem ... Theprinces onspirewith thePope,andperhapswith theNo. 4 (1942), 229-257) believes that although Bruegel counted these nmenamong hisfriends, t wasonly asindividuals,and he cannotbe construed o have beena memberoftheirgroupor to haveshared heir beliefs. He goes even further n believing Bruegeltohaveremainedessentially ourgeois,with certainplebiantastes,'and not at all troubledby thereligiousandphilosophicalproblemsof hisday.This,of course, sbasedupontheuntenableproposition hat thebourgoisiewere uninterestedn thereligiousproblemsoftheirday. For evidence to the contrary,see H. Pirenle, EarlyDelmocraciesn the LowCountries(Urban Society and Political Conflict in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance),[New York, 1963], esp. chaps. 9 and Io, pp. 201-228.21 Trans. by Adriaan Barnouw in The Fantasy of Pieter Bruegliel (New York, I947).The Latin inscription reads: 'What riches are, what is a vast heap of yellow metal, astrong-box filled with new coins, among such enticements and ranks of thieves, the fiercehook will indicate to all. Booty makes the thief, ardent zeal serves up every evil, and apillage suitable for fierce spoils.' (Trans. by H. Klein in GraphicWorldsof PeterBruegeltheElder [New York, 1963], p. 146).22 Quoted and trans. from the Adagia 'Dulce bellum inexpertis' by J. Huizinga inErasmus and the Age of Reform1iationNew York, 1957), p. I54.

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PETER BRUEGEL AND THE DUKE OF ALBAETER BRUEGEL AND THE DUKE OF ALBATurk, againstthe happinessof the people.'23Thus the ChristianHu-manism of Erasmuswhich blossomedinto the 'libertine'spiritof themid-sixteenthcenturybecamecloselytied to the religiousand politicalstruggles n the Lowlandsduring Bruegel'stime.Within this context, we can then see Bruegel'swork as a pointed,albeit moderate, expression of the spirit engendered by Erasmus'thought-as the logical and inevitableculminationof the events of thefirsthalfof thesixteenthcentury.Would it not be possible, herefore, oseeBruegel'searlyworks (pre- 567)andhislateworks asrepresentativeof the contrastbetweentherelativelypeacefulexistenceunderMargaretof Parmaand the calamitiesfollowing Alba's arrival?Would this con-trastnot also be anexpressionof Erasmus' ondemnationof the folly ofwarfare and a plea for moderation and tolerance as voiced by the'ScholaCharitas'?t is in these terms that futureexaminationof PeterBruegel the Elder would seem to beargreatest ruit.STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK,BINGHAMTON

23 Ibid.

ItalianRenaissancePlays n theUniversity f TorontoLibrary

by BEATRICE CORRIGANINCE I963, when I published n Renaissance ews (xvI,4, 298-307)a supplement o my CataloguefItalianPlays,1500-1700 in theUni-versityof TorontoLibrary Universityof Toronto Press,I96I), the col-lection has been enrichedby some fifty plays. Particularlynterestingare the firstItaliantranslationof Aristophanes;a group of the musicalplayswhose vogue grew steadilyduringthe seventeenthcentury;and acoupleof examples, talianandLatin,of the othernew musico-dramatic

form of the period,the oratorio.Noteworthy also is Benetti's Scherno iGiove,a curiousblending of mythology and commediaell'artewhichsurvived n the'classical'burlesques f theVictorian heatre.TheLibraryhas also added several tems to its rareeditions of Cicognini's plays.I am gratefulto the editor of Renaissance ews for allowing me to

Turk, againstthe happinessof the people.'23Thus the ChristianHu-manism of Erasmuswhich blossomedinto the 'libertine'spiritof themid-sixteenthcenturybecamecloselytied to the religiousand politicalstruggles n the Lowlandsduring Bruegel'stime.Within this context, we can then see Bruegel'swork as a pointed,albeit moderate, expression of the spirit engendered by Erasmus'thought-as the logical and inevitableculminationof the events of thefirsthalfof thesixteenthcentury.Would it not be possible, herefore, oseeBruegel'searlyworks (pre- 567)andhislateworks asrepresentativeof the contrastbetweentherelativelypeacefulexistenceunderMargaretof Parmaand the calamitiesfollowing Alba's arrival?Would this con-trastnot also be anexpressionof Erasmus' ondemnationof the folly ofwarfare and a plea for moderation and tolerance as voiced by the'ScholaCharitas'?t is in these terms that futureexaminationof PeterBruegel the Elder would seem to beargreatest ruit.STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK,BINGHAMTON

23 Ibid.

ItalianRenaissancePlays n theUniversity f TorontoLibrary

by BEATRICE CORRIGANINCE I963, when I published n Renaissance ews (xvI,4, 298-307)a supplement o my CataloguefItalianPlays,1500-1700 in theUni-versityof TorontoLibrary Universityof Toronto Press,I96I), the col-lection has been enrichedby some fifty plays. Particularlynterestingare the firstItaliantranslationof Aristophanes;a group of the musicalplayswhose vogue grew steadilyduringthe seventeenthcentury;and acoupleof examples, talianandLatin,of the othernew musico-dramatic

form of the period,the oratorio.Noteworthy also is Benetti's Scherno iGiove,a curiousblending of mythology and commediaell'artewhichsurvived n the'classical'burlesques f theVictorian heatre.TheLibraryhas also added several tems to its rareeditions of Cicognini's plays.I am gratefulto the editor of Renaissance ews for allowing me to

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Pieter Brueghel y El Duque de Alba