Clip Art
Do you recognize this portion of a famous work of art? What is it called, and who painted it?
by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
by Nicholas Roerich
by Philips Galle
by Martin Heemskerck
by Gustave Doré
Answer: (1)
Inspired by the famous tower found in Genesis 11:4-8, The Tower of Babel was painted by Pieter Bruegel I (c. 1525–1569)—commonly known as Pieter Bruegel the Elder—an artist from the Netherlands and one of the most famous and influential painters of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance.
Bruegel painted three versions of this work originally: one in Rome (now lost), the “great” version shown here, and a “little” version now in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
A feast for the eyes, Bruegel’s painting blends several different architectural elements from various cultures into the tower itself. From Mesopotamian ziggurats to Classical and Romanesque structures and a seemingly Flemish port, the tower represents a physical amalgamation of cultures parallel to the one language all humanity shared, according to the authors of Genesis. The monumental building reaches into the sky while at the same time sinking into the earth—a contrast between human skill and hubris.
Many painted this classic biblical scene before Bruegel, but his design became the “standard” that many later artists copied when depicting the Tower of Babel. This version can be viewed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.