Pieter Brueghel II the Younger By: Cameron Wasylak
Pieter Brueghel II the Younger was born in 1564 in Brussels and stayed there throughout his childhood and education although, he spent most of his artistic life in Antwerp. Surprisingly he was educated and tought by his grandmother and then by a miniaturist named Maria Verhulst. Interestingly, lots of his paintings were just copies of his father's artwork. He was a flemish artist which meant he painted in oils. He liked to make paintings that showed either religious meaning or Hell and the devil. No sources I looked at had any information on his patrons.
The name of this piece is The Massacre of the Innocents and it was made in 1566 by Pieter Brueghel the Elder and was copied by his son Pieter Brueghel II the Younger. One of the copies made by Pieter Brueghel the Elder is currently located in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. This paintings shows how people were fine with sacrifice if it benefitted themselves in the future. It used oil paints which were a new technique of the Renaissance. I find this piece interesting because it is not something that would happen today. Also the colors and time of year tell the mood of the painting which is a great thing done by Brueghel. This painting most accurately represents humanism because the movement and actions of the people show their feelings and emotion and it was an important event that showed to what extend people were willing to practice their faith.