1502 -1550 · Flemish Renaissance, workshop, architecture and tapestry

Pieter Coecke van Aelst connects Flemish precision and Italian space. Temptations, Annunciation, Magi and Flight into Egypt show a painter-architect capable of ordering story, donors and landscapes in the mobile form of the triptych.

Born in Aalst in 1502 and died in Brussels in 1550, Pieter Coecke van Aelst was formed, according to Karel van Mander, with Bernard van Orley. He traveled to Italy around 1525, then enrolled in 1527 at the guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp. His marriage to Anna van Dornicke, daughter of the painter Jan van Dornicke, placed him at the head of an important workshop which he inherited on the death of his father-in-law. After Anna's death and a relationship with Antonia van der Sant, he married Mayken Verhulst; their daughter Mayken would become the wife of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. After Anna's death and a relationship with Antonia van der Sant, he married Mayken Verhulst; their daughter Mayken would become the wife of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. After Anna's death and a relationship with Antonia van der Sant, he married Mayken Verhulst; their daughter Mayken would become the wife of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. After Anna's death and a relationship with Antonia van der Sant, he married Mayken Verhulst; their daughter Mayken would become the wife of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. After Anna's death and a relationship with Antonia van der Sant, he married Mayken Verhulst; their daughter Mayken would become the wife of Pieter translated Vitruvius and Sebastiano Serlio, helping to disseminate the architectural principles of the Italian Renaissance in the Netherlands. In 1533, a trip to Constantinople inspired him to create a series of drawings on Turkish customs and costumes, published in wood engravings in 1550 by Mayken Verhulst. His paintings evolve from Antwerp Mannerism inherited from Van Orley and Van Dornicke towards a Romanism nourished by Raphael. The Triptych with Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi and Nativity retains the devotional mobility of the shutters while unifying the scenes with volume and architecture. The Triptych with Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi and Nativity retains the devotional mobility of the shutters while unifying the scenes with volume and architecture. The Triptych with Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi and Nativity retains the devotional mobility of the shutters while unifying the scenes with volume and architecture. The Adoration of the Magi around 1530 updates the traditional structure with a triangular organization and a more subtle modeling. The Flight into Egypt transforms the sacred journey into a small narrative landscape, while The Temptations of Saint Anthony combines fantastic visions and mastery of space. The panels of saints accompanied by donors finally show how the workshop connects portrait, intercession and altarpiece. The "Pieter Coecke van Aelst" selection notably compares The Temptations of Saint Anthony and Triptych with the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi and Triptych with the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Magi and Nativity with angels and shepherds. His reading favors movement.

Coecke thinks of painting like an architect: panels, figures and landscapes come together in a constructed space, but each shutter retains its spiritual function.