Pieter Coecke van Aelst
Pieter Coecke van Aelst was a Northern Renaissance Flemish artist who lived from 1502 to 1550 in modern day Belgium. He apprenticed under the Flemish artist Bernard van Orley, and traveled to Italy where he studied Classical art. It was at this time that he was also exposed to the Italian master, Raphael, whose influence can be seen in his art.
Pieter Coecke van Aelst taught, published, and created his own works, and was a strong influence on the Northern Renaissance artistic and cultural resurgence happening in his time. He spoke many languages and translated both ancient and contemporary Italian architectural documents from Italian to Flemish, German, and French, disseminating the changing ideologies to the northern Europeans. Many believe that the shift from Gothic architecture to classical Renaissance architectural styles was largely due to his translations. As most artists of his day, van Aelst worked in a variety of mediums, such as painting, sculpting, engraving, architecture, tapestries, and stained glass. Many of his stained-glass pieces still survive in buildings in Antwerp, such as the Antwerp Cathedral.
Van Aelst created a studio in Brussels in the mid sixteenth century where he taught many artists, including Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Pieter Bruegel afterwards married van Aelst’s daughter. Van Aelst served as the court artist of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire. Unfortunately, he only held the post for a few months before his premature death at 48 years old.
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