The Last Judgment

published 1558

Pieter van der Heyden after Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Associated Names
Pieter van der Heyden

Artist, Netherlandish, active c. 1551/1572

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

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

This is a drawing of a scene depicting a central figure on a cloud surrounded by angelic figures blowing trumpets. Below them, there are various figures being herded onto boats, with strange creatures around. On one side, monstrous figures are present, while on the opposite side, the figures flow out of a giant egg-like form. Many people are shown in lines, with fantastical creatures throughout the image. The composition contrasts between the celestial peace above and the chaotic scene below.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 22.5 × 29.3 cm (8 7/8 × 11 9/16 in.)
    sheet: 28.4 × 37.3 cm (11 3/16 × 14 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1964.8.424

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 8, State i/ii

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1965

  • Drolleries and Demons: Six Centuries of 'Fantastic' Prints, IBM Gallery, New York, NY, 1965, no. 28.

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. (Pieter Bruegel, Nadine Orenstein author). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-, no. 8, state i/ii.

Inscriptions

lower left, in cartouche, in plate: .Brueghel. Inuet; lower center, in image, in plate: H. Cock. excude. Cum. privileg. 1558.; lower right, in image, in plate: PAME [artist's monogram]; lower margin, at left, in plate: VENITE. BENEDICTI. PATRIS. MEI. IN. REGNVM. AETERNVM. / ITE. MALEDICTI. PATRIS. MEI. IN. IGNEM. SEMPITERNVM. (Come you, blessed by my father, into the Eternal Kingdom, and you, cursed by my father, go into the everlasting fire.); lower margin, at right, in plate: Compt ghy gebenedyde myns vaders hier / En ghaet ghy vermaledyde in dat eeuwighe vier. (Come you, blessed by my father, here, and you, the cursed, go into the everlasting fire.) [translation from Nadine Orenstein, ed., Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001, p. 163.]

Wikidata ID

Q65511674

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