The Tower of Babel (Full)

The Tower of Babel (Pieter Bruegel the Elder) — the painting printed edge-to-edge at its own proportions. The Tower of Babel · Pieter Bruegel the Elder · 1563.

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

Unframed at this size — framing is available on 16×24 and 24×36.

$59Unframed print · made to order

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

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About this work

Artist: Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525–1569)
Year: c. 1563
Medium: Oil on panel
Original size: 114 × 155 cm
Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (the larger of Bruegel's two versions)
Movement: Northern Renaissance

A vast spiral tower rises out of a flat Flemish landscape beside a harbour, its upper storeys unfinished and leaning, its arches modelled on the Colosseum, which Bruegel had seen in Rome. King Nimrod and his retinue inspect the stonemasons in the foreground while hundreds of tiny workers, cranes and hoists swarm over the structure. Bruegel signed and dated the panel in 1563, the year he moved from Antwerp to Brussels; it was owned by the emperor Rudolf II by 1600 and has been in Vienna since. He painted a second, smaller Tower, now in Rotterdam, and a lost miniature on ivory. The subject from Genesis is a warning against pride, but the painting is also a precise record of sixteenth-century building technology.

This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from the original plate — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 16×12, 24×18 in • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Produced in 2–4 business days, then shipped from the facility nearest you. Delivery is typically 3–6 business days (US/UK/EU) and 5–12 worldwide. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The image fills the print at the painting's own proportions; nothing is trimmed to fit a frame.

Is The Tower of Babel in the public domain?

Yes. Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525–1569) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Kunsthistorisches Museum.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; the two larger sizes are also offered framed. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was The Tower of Babel painted, and in what medium?

The Tower of Babel dates from c. 1563 and was made in oil on panel; the original measures 114 × 155 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

For a standard three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 inches reads as a single statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pairing. The print's proportions follow the original, so a landscape-format painting is wider than it is tall.

About this design

The Tower of Babel (Pieter Bruegel the Elder) — the painting printed edge-to-edge at its own proportions. The Tower of Babel · Pieter Bruegel the Elder · 1563. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Three sizes (12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in); the 16×24 and 24×36 are also offered framed. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

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The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days.

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