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Pieter Brueghel de Oude. Zelfmoord van Saul

Pieter Brueghel the Elder

1562

unspecified

From the collection of Catholic University of Leuven

Northern Renaissance Renaissance Renaissance

Dominant colour

Pieter Brueghel de Oude. Zelfmoord van Saul is a 1562 unspecified by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, a Northern Renaissance work, held at Catholic University of Leuven.

Who painted this?: Pieter Brueghel the Elder
When & what style?: 1562 · Northern Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Catholic University of Leuven

About this work

This painting shows King Saul kneeling on a hilltop. A soldier stands behind him with a spear. Saul’s eyes look up as he falls on his own sword. The scene is from the Bible’s First Book of Samuel. It’s an old story—some say it’s the first suicide in Western art. Brueghel painted it in 1562, during a time when artists loved detailed, busy scenes. This one’s extra dark for the topic. Check out Pieter Brueghel I next.