VISU-members Tine Meganck and Marlise Rijks contributed to the recently opened exhibition on the Brueghel family in Milan, at Palazzo Reale. "Brueghels: The Origins of Painting Genres in Europe" is the first major exhibition in Italy dedicated to one of the most influential artistic dynasties of the European Renaissance.
Through over eighty works – including paintings, drawings, and prints – the exhibition guides visitors on a journey to discover a family of painters who made a decisive contribution to the birth of future painting genres across the Netherlands, Italy, and the rest of Europe. From snowy landscapes to seascapes, from still lifes to genre scenes and battle paintings, this system of genres has ultimately shaped modern European painting as we know it today. This fascinating exhibition documents a pivotal moment in art history, showing how the Brueghels – through their innovations and unique production and distribution strategies tailored for a growing market – played a key role in establishing this new pictorial system during the 17th century, a period of significant cultural, social, and economic change.
From a cultural perspective, the rise of art literature initiated a process of defining schools, styles, and types of representation, codifying the "canons" that still guide us today in evaluating and understanding an artwork within specific genres. On the economic front, the expansion of the art market – no longer restricted to religious and aristocratic commissions, but increasingly open, especially in the Netherlands, to a bourgeois public – fostered a progressive specialization in artistic production. Painters began targeting precise market niches, dedicating themselves to specific subjects highly sought after by a broader audience.