The "Little" Tower of Babel (Rotterdam) – Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c.1563–68. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.

Bruegel painted the Tower of Babel more than once. The famous version in Vienna (1563) is a sunlit panorama, with King Nimrod inspecting his stonemasons in the foreground. This second, smaller panel, known as the "Little" Tower of Babel, is about half the size, yet the tower itself is grander, further built and far moodier. Its upper storeys already pierce the clouds, its brick-red core glows against a darkening sky, and the busy harbour and tiny figures swarming up its ramps are almost lost in its scale.

Gone is the king and his court: here the tower alone is the subject, a vast, doomed monument to human ambition rising over the Flemish landscape. Look closely and you will find cranes, scaffolding, processions and ships, painted in astonishing miniature detail.

The print: Museum-quality giclée, printed on demand on heavyweight fine art paper with archival pigment inks for rich colour, deep blacks and lasting fidelity. Also available beautifully framed, or as a gallery-wrapped canvas ready to hang.

• Giclée Print: fine art matte paper, archival inks
• Framed Print: giclée in a classic wooden frame, ready to hang
• Canvas: stretched, gallery-wrapped canvas
• Sizes: 40×30cm and 70×50cm (landscape)

Reproduced from a high-resolution public-domain museum scan. Made to order for you.