Les jugements de Dominique Lampson sur Jan Gossart et Lambert Lombard

in Delfosse, Annick; Glesener, Thomas (Eds.) Ecrire, lire et éduquer à la Renaissance, Hommage en l’honneur de Franz Bierlaire (in press)

Le Massacre des Inncents de Pierre Brueghel le Jeune de la collection Brukenthal (Bucarest) : Une copie qui fait honneur à son modèle

in Bulletin de l'Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique = Bulletijn van het Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium (2013)

Pieter Brueghel as a copyist after Pieter Bruegel

Conference (2012, May 22)

When Pieter Bruegel the Elder died in 1569, his elder son and principal continuator, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, was only four or five years old. The amazingly faithful replicas by the latter were ... [more ▼]

When Pieter Bruegel the Elder died in 1569, his elder son and principal continuator, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, was only four or five years old. The amazingly faithful replicas by the latter were therefore made decades later, after models that were not always the original versions, disseminated at that time; they also relied on a treasure trove of working drawings inherited from Bruegel the Elder. Reconstructing this lost preparatory material through the evidence uncovered during technical examination of the copies of his sons (especially Pieter’s but also Jan’s) is one aspect that will be illustrated in this paper through a few key case studies such as the Battle between Carnival and Lent, the Sermon of St John the Baptist and the Wedding Dance in the Open Air. The presentation will thus describe the actual methods of both the creator and his foremost copyist, based on combined results of infrared reflectography, practical reconstructions and comparisons of tracings of their respective paintings. Brueghel the Younger’s vast and successful copying enterprise required a streamlined production process, and this gradually came to light over the technical research into 60+ paintings by the artist and his workshop. The most interesting discoveries on his techniques and materials – supports, preparatory layers, underdrawings, and pigments – will be illustrated through different examples of his work. This evidence, seen in conjunction with the evidence of the transfer technique, allows us to distinguish his production from that of rival copyists. The realisation that Brueghel the Younger’s copies of the same composition are not all alike and that there are often several variants of them will be considered in relation to the organization of work within – and possibly outside – his workshop. This issue, examined alongside that of the attribution of the copies within series, gives us a more nuanced view of Brueghel the Younger’s output and working practice. [less ▲]

The Brueg[H]el Phenomenon : Paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger with a special Focus on Technique and Copying Practice

Book published by Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage - Koninklijk INstituut voor het Kusntaptrimonium (KIK) - INstitut royal du Patrimoine artistique (IRPA) (2012)

The fascination exerted by the works of the illustrious Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the decades following his death in 1569 is matched only by the intense interest they generate today. At the end of the ... [more ▼]

The fascination exerted by the works of the illustrious Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the decades following his death in 1569 is matched only by the intense interest they generate today. At the end of the sixteenth century and in the first half of the seventeenth, the most ambitious art collectors fought over the few paintings by the master that were still on the market. This setting was the catalyst for the appearance of copies and pastiches - and even deliberate forgeries. It was then that the elder son of Pieter Bruegel, known as Pieter Brueghel the Younger (whose name is spelled ‘Brueghel' here, conforming to the signature that he adopted during the initial phase of his career) emerged as a legitimate successor, producing astonishingly faithful replicas of his father's paintings. This was all the more surprising given that they were often made after works that were by then dispersed in diverse and sometimes inaccessible private collections. Operating within the context of a sizeable workshop, Brueghel supplied the market with hundreds of copies of variable quality according to demand. This enterprise merited re-evaluation from a technical point of view: how were such vast numbers of copies produced in practice? This three-volume book explores the intriguing Brueg[H]el phenomenon through the two artists' painting practices. The technical aspects of their works are investigated in a detective-like manner and are strikingly elucidated with a wealth of colour illustrations. The reader will come to understand the accomplished practitioner behind the genius that is Bruegel the Elder and the working procedures of his foremost emulator's workshop. Furthermore, Brueghel the Younger's exceptional qualities as a painter are singled out from those of his workshop production. The book also reveals fresh discoveries on the father's creative process through the study of his son's copies. Readers will also have access to a website with more than 2000 illustrations. [less ▲]

The Brueg[H]el Phenomenon Paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger with a Special Focus on Technique and Copying Practice

Scientific conference (2012)

Dans l'atelier des Brueg(h)el père et fils. Pratiques d'un créateur et de son copiste

Scientific conference (2012)

Lambert Lombard, pictor et inventor

Conference given outside the academic context (2010)

Les Primitifs flamands

Conference given outside the academic context (2009)

La peinture du XVe et du début du XVIe siècle dans les collections publiques de Liège

Book published by Centre "Primitifs flamands" (2008)

Ce sixième volume de la collection « Répertoires » éditée par le Centre "Primitifs flamands" rassemble des dossiers d’expertise sur quarante-quatre tableaux liégeois ou flamands du XVe et du début du XVIe ... [more ▼]

Ce sixième volume de la collection « Répertoires » éditée par le Centre "Primitifs flamands" rassemble des dossiers d’expertise sur quarante-quatre tableaux liégeois ou flamands du XVe et du début du XVIe siècle, conservés dans les collections publiques de Liège, au Grand Curtius, au Trésor de la Cathédrale, à l’église Sainte-Croix et à l’Université (collection Wittert). Parmi eux, on retrouvera des joyaux comme la "Vierge à l’Enfant avec sainte Marie-Madeleine et une donatrice" du Maître à la Vue de Sainte-Gudule, la "Vierge à l’Enfant" peinte par Pieter Coeck vers 1535. Parmi les pièces retenues figurent aussi des témoignages de l’histoire locale, comme la fameuse "Vierge au papillon" (Trésor de la Cathédrale de Liège), miraculeusement rescapée du sac de la ville par les troupes de Charles le Téméraire en 1468, et le "Diptyque Palude" (Grand Curtius), réalisé à la fin du XVe siècle pour Henri ex Palude, chantre de la Cathédrale Saint-Lambert. Une douzaine d’œuvres léguées à l’Université de Liège par le baron Adrien Wittert, en 1903, font aussi l’objet d’une étude détaillée. Il faut malheureusement déplorer l’état de conservation médiocre de certains des tableaux étudiés. L’un des objectifs de l’auteur est de sensibiliser les responsables de ce patrimoine à la nécessité d’en assurer plus efficacement la sauvegarde, et d’en confier les soins à des mains expertes. Abondamment illustré, ce luxueux ouvrage offre aux spécialistes et aux amateurs d’art un commentaire explicatif approfondi, assorti de comparaisons pour chacune des œuvres recensées, et une documentation scientifique et technique pour nombre d’entre elles. [less ▲]

La copie chez Lambert Lombard : procédés et fonctions

in Verougstraete, Hélène; Couvert, Jacqueline (Eds.) La peinture ancienne et ses procédés. Copies, répliques et pastiches. (2006)