Le Grande Place de Bruxelles

Comments

"Le Grande Place de Bruxelles" ("The Main Square of Brussels") -- painted about 1650-by Peeter van Bredael or Breda (7/19/1629-3/9/1719) to show preparation for a festival, or kermis, in this large, well-known public square.

Given to St. Philip's Church by John (Jack) Goodman, Tucson, early 1960s; purchased from a Los Angeles dealer. Much of the sky has been overpainted, but the original painting remains underneath. All of the rest of the painting is largely original with a few repairs and touch-ups. Last cleaning and revarnishing was about 1937.

Van Bredael was a Flemish painter of the 17th and early 18th century. He lived most of his life in Antwerp (Anvers), Flanders. In the 1640s, he traveled to Spain, returning to Antwerp in 1650, when he joined the painters Guild of Anvers. Among the musuems containing his paintings are: Antwerp, Breslau, Brest, Brouges, Cambrai, Chalcas, Helsinki, Lille, Nantes, and Stockholm. (Bénézit)

There was a dynasty of Bredaels, all of whom painted in much the same time period. Alexander (1663-1720); Guillame (admitted to the Antwerp Guild in 1638); Jan Frans (Jean Francois); Jan Peeter (Jean Pierre) the Elder (1654-1745-no surviving works); Jan Peeter-the Younger (1683-1735); Joris, 1661-c1706); Joseph (1688-1739); and Peeter (Pierre) (1629-1719) who specialized in Italian subjects. The family center was Antwerp, but they were equally at home in the French-speaking part of the country, including Brussels. They lived in a relatively short time span and in a small area. (Quinn) [source: tour notes]