Fortitude

published 1559

Philip Galle after Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Associated Names
Philip Galle

Artist, Netherlandish, 1537 - 1612

Hieronymus Cock

Publisher, Netherlandish, 1518 - 1570

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Artist After, Netherlandish, c. 1525/1530 - 1569

This is an image of a fantastical battle scene. It includes a chaotic and surreal battlefield with unusual and mythological animals, soldiers using various weapons, and architectural structures. The drawing features detailed figures engaged in combat, riding horses, or lying defeated. The landscape includes a body of water with ships sailing in the background. A central figure stands near a column with wings and a robe. The intricate lines and composition suggest rich narrative and complex symbolism.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.2117

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 314, State i/ii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(sale, C.G. Boerner, Leipzig, May 7-9, 1928, lot 264); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1760b); gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1908

  • Bastelaer, Rene van. Les estampes de Peter Bruegel l'ancien. Brussels: G. van Oest et Cie, 1908.

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. (Philips Galle, Manfred Sellink and Marjolein Leesberg, authors). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-, no. 314, state i/ii.

Inscriptions

lower left, in image, in plate: COCK EXC.; lower center, in image, in plate: FORTITVDO (Fortitude); lower right, in image, in plate: BRVEGEL INVENTOR; lower margin, in plate: ANIMVM VINCERE, IRACVNDIAM COHIBERE, CAETERAQ[VE] VITIA ET, AFFECTVS / COHIBERE, VERA FORTITVDO EST. (To conquer one's impulses, to restrain anger and the other vices and emotions: this is the true fortitude.) [translation from Nadine Orenstein, ed., Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001, p. 189.]

Wikidata ID

Q64963003

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