“This painting of the parable of the sower from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke is among the earliest signed paintings by Bruegel, one of the geniuses of Northern European painting. A lone peasant in the left foreground scatters seeds on an upland pasture. The seeds he has already sown have multiplied in the fields below him to the right and in the middle distance. Across the river, a small crowd gathers to hear Jesus preaching. Bruegel left Antwerp in 1553 to study in Italy, and on his return made drawings of the Alps, which influenced the detail and aerial perspective of the landscape in this painting.”

While on our 10-day San Diego Tour, and right after our lunch at The Prado at Balboa Park, we marched directly across the street to the Timken Museum of Art.

The Timken Museum of Art is considered one of the great small museums in the world.  The Timken houses the world-class Putnam Foundation Collection of European old master paintings, American paintings, and Russian icons. Artists represented include Rembrandt, Rubens, Fragonard, Bierstadt, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, John Singleton Copley, and Eastman Johnson.

This beautiful little museum is free of charge, and for $3 you can rent an audio tour that will walk you through all of the museum’s collection in about 90 minutes.

We particularly enjoyed the above Bruegel, and recommend that you put Balboa Park (home to 14 museums), and in particular the Timken Museum of Art on your must do list.