This new catalogue raisonné of the drawings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder is a radical revision of previous catalogues, with Bruegel emerging as a zestful and inventive draughtsman. The drawings range from complex allegorical designs to detailed landscapes, many depicting dramatic alpine scenery. Dr. Mielke has made one of his most significant contributions by discovering that many deceptive imitations of these views were drawn in the sixteenth century by Bruegel?s follower, Roelant Savery, and have been accepted as Bruegel?s own work ever since. The author also proposes that several, previously unknown or rejected drawings should be regarded as autograph, including the early River Landscape in the Louvre, one of the most overtly naturalistic landscape drawings to have survived from the sixteenth century. Many of Bruegel?s drawings were made to prepare the engravings through which his work became celebrated in his own day, although other, often more spontaneous sketches are also known. The catalogue also illustrates and discusses drawings that were formerly attributed to Bruegel. Dr. Mielke, who until his death in 1994 was curator of Netherlandish drawings at the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett, had an incisive style of writing which well communicates the experience and knowledge that he had accumulated during more than three decades. In this period he was acknowledged as one of the most gifted connoisseurs in the field. The Bruegel catalogue, sadly the last he completed before his untimely death, is a model that will find many emulators and which will be the standard work on Bruegel?s drawings for the foreseeable future. /This volume is a catalogue raisonné dedicated to all known drawings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Hans Mielke revises earlier scholarship, re-examining attributions and distinguishing works by Bruegel?s followers (notably Roelant Savery) that have long been misattributed. The book presents a full inventory of Bruegel?s drawings, combining detailed entries (with catalogue numbers), technical and stylistic analysis, provenance data, and many black-and-white plates reproducing the drawings. The range includes richly allegorical compositions, studies of nature, spontaneous sketches, and highly detailed landscapes?including mountain and river scenes. Mielke argues for recognizing several works previously dismissed or ignored as genuine Bruegel drawings, including the River Landscape in the Louvre. He also explores how many of Bruegel?s drawings served as preparatory materials for engravings and prints, illuminating their role in his artistic process. The volume is richly documented, includes critical commentary, and is structured for both scholars and serious collectors of Northern Renaissance drawing. / Hans Mielke (died 1994) was a German scholar and curator, especially known for his expertise in Netherlandish drawings. For many years he served as curator of Netherlandish drawings at the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett. Over a long career of more than three decades he made substantial contributions to scholarship on Pieter Bruegel the Elder, especially in attribution, cataloguing, and stylistic analysis of drawings. Pieter Bruegel: Die Zeichnungen was the last major work he completed before his death, and is considered one of his most important publications.