It has been easy for art historians to overlook the work of Jan Brueghel, Pieter’s son. Unlike his 17th-century contemporaries Rubens and Caravaggio who painted on a grand scale, Jan Brueghel created tiny, detail-filled paintings. In the first book-length study of the artist, Jan Brueghel and the Senses of Scale (Penn State, 2016), Professor of History of Art Elizabeth Honig reveals how the work questioned conceptions of distance, dimension, and style, and set a standard for the production of inexpensive popular images.

Honig is joined by Professor Emerita Svetlana Alpers (History of Art). After a brief discussion of Honig's work, they open the floor for discussion.