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The Tower of Babel
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
A panel of extreme descriptive density, painted on oak boards joined vertically.
- Artist
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- Date
- 1563
- Medium
- Oil on oak panel
- Dimensions
- 114 × 155 cm
- Location
- Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
History
What the record shows
Bruegel drew on Roman ruins seen on his Italian journey for the tower's arcades.
The joins between boards are the panel's weak points and are monitored continuously for movement.
Provenance
Chain of ownership
- 01Niclaes Jongelinck, Antwerp, 1560s
- 02Habsburg imperial collections, Prague and Vienna
- 03Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
