Pieter Bruegel, the elder, died just over 400 years ago. He lived and worked in the Netherlands in the middle of the 16th century and was one of the great witnesses of his age. He described the lives of ordinary working men and women in town and country. In his paintings of religious subjects he placed biblical events in contemporary contexts and so described the facts of oppression and religious persecution. He showed realistic activity taken to fantastic extremes and described the fantastic in completely realistic terms. His terrifying vision of 'The Triumph of Death' anticipated by three-and-a-half centuries the familiar landscapes of modern war.
A film by Paul Haesaerts for the Flemish Service of Belgian Radio and Television
English version and commentary by Michael Dibb
(Colour)