Walter Samuel Gibson was an art historian specializing in the Northern Renaissance, with a particular focus on the work of Hieronymus Bosch. His scholarship delves into the intricate details and historical context of these significant artistic creations. Gibson's approach sought to illuminate the complex world and unique vision of his chosen subjects. His contributions offer valuable insights into a pivotal era of art history.
In this delightfully engaging book, Walter S. Gibson takes a new look at Bruegel, arguing that the artist was no erudite philosopher, but a man very much in the world, and that a significant part of his art is best appreciated in the context of humour
Although Pieter Bruegel's pictures have been celebrated throughout the past four hundred years, the artist himself remains a shadowy and misunderstood figure. In a volume which will widen the understanding and enhance the enjoyment of Bruegel's many admirers, Walter Gibson illuminates the sixteenth-century world in which the artist lived. He analyzes the different strands of Bruegel's inspiration, examines his works, and considers his influence on later artists. Dispelling the notion of Bruegel the simpleton peasant, the author shows us Bruegel the cultivated artist, satisfying an urban society's pleasure in moralizing tales and proverbs, rooted in the rich, bourgeois, brilliant Antwerp of the Flemish Renaissance.
"An exceptional book, sensible, illuminating and readable...probably the best straightforward account of Bosch and his works which we shall have for some time."—Times Literary Supplement