Bruegel's Tower of Babel: A Case of Abbasid Influence in Western Art

Sheldon Lee Gosline

There is a commonly held view concerning Bruegel's two depictions of the Tower of Babel with which I disagree. It has been suggested that the architectural form of the towers in these two paintings provides evidence that, for some period, Bruegel was influenced by the art of ancient Greece and Rome. This emphasis of classical subjects and scenes was the mode of some artists of Bruegel's time who called themselves "Romanists." Bruegel was not among this group. His works emphasize a northern European focus with strong international trade links and the architectural form of the cylindrical spiral towers in his paintings show this link with the Near East, which not only influenced northern Europe but also China.

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