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THE LIBERATION OF BRUSSELS BY GERARD DAVID AND PIETER BRUEGEL

Paulo Martins Oliveira

January 2016

Following the lead of the ingenious and daring Jheronimus Bosch1, some Netherlandish artists

were criticizing the foreign Habsburg administration, which had selected Brussels as its head-

quarters in the Low Countries.

Example by Gerard David, Virgin and Child with four angels (Met. NY)

Emperor Maximilian being surreptitiously mocked through a typical anthropomorphism2,

in this case referring to the famous, distinctive outline of his head, especially his nose.

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Comparative examples – official portraits of Maximilian Habsburg (dets.)

Example of an allegorical, satirical depiction by Bosch: Maximilian kidnaping Mary of

Burgundy-Netherlands

Example of an adaptation of Maximilian’s distinctive nose into self-punishing depictions

of Bosch and Anthonis van Aken3. In fact, painters often designed composite characters

(≈ literary and theatrical creations)4.

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However, there is a subtle but important difference between Bosch and Gerard David, since this

last one shows himself to be more optimistic on the fate of the Netherlandish territories. This is

visible in Gerard’s altarpiece dedicated to St. Michael – the patron saint of Brussels (as said above,

the imperial headquarters in the Low Countries).

His battle is particularly tough because the “devils” actually inhabit his own cloack, i.e. the foreign

Habsburgs headquartered in Brussels, more specifically in the celebrated Palace of Coudenberg

and its luxuriant “Garden of Earthly Delights” (currently the Warandepark - Parc de Bruxelles)5.

On the right side one can see a demon-eagle (the imperial eagle), accompanied above and below

by hellish caricatures of Emperor Maximilian Habsburg and his predecessor and father Frederick

III (regarded as the infamous architect of the annexation of the Burgundian Netherlands into the

Holy Empire).

Furthermore, that local patriotic Archangel Michael actually pulls out the long crucifix, since it

was a marker of the foreign Holy Empire (vs. the nationalist diagonal cross, i.e. the Netherlandish-

Burgundian saltire).

The coat of arms

of Brussels

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Comparative examples

Jheronimus Bosch, The Temptation of St. Anthony, det. A punitive expedition returning to the

Holy Empire

Pieter Bruegel, The Triumph of Death, det. The hellish Electors and Princes of the Holy

(Roman) Empire wearing Roman togas (the Imperial Diet ≈ a diabolical Senate, SPQR)

Pieter Bruegel, The Magpie on the Gallows

allegorical

representation of

Coudenberg

the imperial

marker

the Habsburg

repression

Bruegel’s challenge

a disguised house-

head: the imperial

surveillance and its

informers (det)

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As for Coudenberg (Koudenberg), it means “cold hill”, i.e. a small hill of Brussels on which the old

palace was built.

Such a hill was often allegorically transformed into a giant mountain, and sometimes even into a

mountain range, symbolizing the alpine Austria (vs. the Low Countries), i.e. the foreign Habsburg

administration, as seen in several of Bruegel’s paintings6.

These exaggerated mountains also allegorized the entire “Habsburg-ish” Brussels and its seven

hills: St. Michielsberg, Koudenberg, Warmoesberg, Kruidtuin, Kunstberg, Zavel, and St. Pieters-

berg.

The profaned hills of Brussels (≈ the seven hills of Rome) are symbolized by the pointed mountains

seen in the mentioned Altarpiece of St. Michael, by Gerard David, who nonetheless enhanced

four of them, signifying the four pillars of the great Duchy of Brabant, which was the core of the

Burgundian Netherlands (Quarters of Brussels, Leuven, Antwerp and ‘s-Hertogenbosch).

Comparative example

Jheronimus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, det. – the four capitals of Brabant around

the “imperial orb”

A few decades later, Pieter Bruegel would reinvent and adapt the devices of both Jheronimus

Bosch and Gerard David (besides other influences), in order to design artworks which combine

penitent admissions and calls to resistance.

This is seen, for instance, in Bruegel’s The fall of the rebel angels – in fact the desired expulsion

of the Habsburg devils from Brussels by its patron saint, but also by other angels, i.e. the

heterogeneous Netherlanders united.

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Pieter Bruegel, The fall of the rebel angels. Details such as the central “butterfly” or the ripped

banner refer to the Habsburg Empire, while other elements allude to the dark Bruegel himself

and to his guilty conscience (in the manner of Bosch).

In conclusion, the subversive nationalist art itself should be considered at different levels, since it

was as evolving reality, as diverse as the Netherlandish communities and their most prominent

artists.

Research paper available for consultation

All images in the public domain

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NOTES

1 Nonetheless, it has to be noted that Jheronimus Bosch was in turn inspired by nationalist artists such as Geertgen tot sint Jans. In fact, Bosch can be regarded as an axial figure, who refined, merged and reinvented various influences to create a specific visual grammar, which, in turn, would be adopted and transformed by others. 2 For more on this see Bosch and the hidden devils of the Garden; Bosch, the surdo canis; The nationalist and rational Jheronimus Bosch; On the origin and meaning of Bosch’s Garden; The damned shield of (‘s-Hertogen) Bosch; and The political consciousness of Pieter Bruegel. 3 Several workshops of the 15th and early 16th centuries resembled various architecture firms of the 21th century, since each was led by a head artist who envisioned, designed and reviewed the works in accordance with his own specific philosophy and visual grammar. The material execution was often handed to ranked assistants (in Bosch’s workshop, his younger nephew Anthonis van Aken was the lead disciple, see Jheronimus Bosch – o relojoeiro dos símbolos). Therefore, it is critical to understand the inner logic of Bosch’s creations, not least because he will inspire the development of other nationalist grammars (e.g. Gerard David, Matsys, etc.), each different from the others. 4 See The merging of identities in old paintings. 5 See The Delights of Coudenberg; Bosch, the surdo canis; and On the origin and meaning of Bosch’s Garden. 6 See some exemples in Bosch, the surdo canis, p.10