BRUEGEL, Pieter the Elder
(b. ca. 1525, Brogel, d. 1569, Brussel)

The Adoration of the Kings

1556-62
Tempera on canvas, 122 x 168 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

Unlike the other two depictions of the Adoration by Bruegel, this work was painted not on wood but on canvas, and is in poor condition. It is the earliest of the surviving Adorations. Bruegel has surrounded the central event with a large crowd of people, dressed partly in Netherlands dress, partly in oriental fashion.