The brilliant Rudy Rucker has evidently written a novel based on
Bruegel's life and has posted his notes on-line. I direct you to
these:
http://www.rudyrucker.com/bruegel/bruegelnotesposted.pdf
In the notes, he describes a number of versions of the Tower of Babel, including:
1563 version painted for Jonghelinck (a merchant in Antwerp and one of
Bruegel's most important patrons)
Rucker notes this about Jonghelinck:
Jonghelinck was a rich Antwerp financier who belonged to the immediate
entourage of Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, president of the council
of state from 1556 to 1564. A confidant of Granvelle. A banker. Also a
tax-collector. Jonghelinck?s pictures were ?in his house located at
ter Beken?. They included ?sixteen items by Bruegel including the
tower of Babylon, a Bearing of the Cross, the Twelve Months...?
Later, in a section on parables in Bruegel, Rucker speculates that
"Tower of Babel could be a warning against Philip?s plans for unifying
the Netherlands. |
