# Orpheus in the Underworld

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/orpheus-in-the-underworld-rd8a5836a58bdbb>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [BRUEGHEL, Jan the Elder](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba>)
- Date: 1551-1600
- Technique: Oil on copper, 27 x 36 cm

## Commentary

Known for his flower paintings, Jan, like his father Pieter the Elder, also made underworld landscapes, reviving a recurrent taste for the hallucinatory. The musician Orpheus is attempting to persuade Hades and Proserpina to release Euridice, his lover. His backward glance foreshadows the tale&#39;s ending. &lt;P&gt; &lt;TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR=&#34;\#99CCCC&#34;&gt; &lt;TR VALIGN=MIDDLE&gt;&lt;TD&gt;&lt;IMG SRC=&#34;/support/gif/listen.gif&#34; BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE&gt; Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 7 minutes\):&lt;BR&gt;&lt;A HREF=&#34;\#&#34; onClick=&#34;w=window.open \(&#39;/music1/18\_cent/gluck\_orfeo.html&#39;, &#39;newWin&#39;, &#39;scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350&#39;\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true&#34;&gt;&lt;B&gt;Cristoph Willibald Gluck: Orfeo, Act I, Orpheus&#39; aria in G Major&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/A&gt; &lt;/TD&gt;&lt;/TR&gt;&lt;/TABLE&gt;

## Related artworks

- [A Flemish Fair \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/a-flemish-fair-detail-r27688de1d2dd96>)
- [A Flemish Fair \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/a-flemish-fair-detail-r3bcbf391cd866e>)
- [A Flemish Fair](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/a-flemish-fair-r0308dcab219510>)
- [Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/adam-and-eve-in-the-garden-of-eden-r4564b81c46d5b0>)
- [Air \(Optics\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/air-optics-rba0feb1c879c68>)
- [Allegory of Sight and Smell](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/allegory-of-sight-and-smell-r597f5ab34adc66>)
- [Bouquet in a Clay Vase](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/bouquet-in-a-clay-vase-r08b965c81ec632>)
- [Bouquet in a Clay Vase](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/bouquet-in-a-clay-vase-r5e77920b69ef38>)
- [Bouquet of Flowers \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/bouquet-of-flowers-detail-rcf70c0b0e4a71f>)
- [Bouquet of Flowers](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/bouquet-of-flowers-r088404730cbc58>)
- [Bouquet of Flowers](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/bouquet-of-flowers-r23ac8e42a54995>)
- [Bouquet of Flowers](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-jan-the-elder-r209239412a2aba/bouquet-of-flowers-re721a4740bd110>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)