A megalomaniac builder

The biblical story of Babel begins after the Flood, when the descendants of Noah travel to the land of Shinar—roughly present-day Iraq. There, they decide to build a city with a tower that will reach to the heavens. “That will make us famous, and we won’t be scattered across the earth,” they think. But God condemns their ambitious and vain plans: He confuses their language—so they no longer understand each other—and thereby halts construction on the tower. What was once one people with one language becomes many nations, scattered across the earth, speaking a diversity of tongues. The Tower of Babel became the emblem of human ambition turning into hubris—and thus doomed to failure.

In this painting, Tobias Verhaecht places Babel in a fictional world landscape, in the spirit of Joachim Patinir and Herri met de Bles. The absurdly large tower, reminiscent of the infamous Roman Colosseum, dominates the composition. The details added by Jan Brueghel the Elder, by contrast, are minute. The feverish bustle in and around the construction becomes visible only gradually. Not only are the building activities depicted, but also scenes from everyday life: laundry is drying, chickens are being fed, people chat on a terrace. One can look at it endlessly.

Dark Clouds

The Bible doesn’t say who built the tower or led the project. But learned rabbis soon found clues and introduced Nimrod: great-grandson of Noah, grandson of Ham, son of Cush, the first ruler on earth and a mighty hunter, unmatched by anyone (Genesis 10:1–9). The Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus also names Nimrod in his Antiquities of the Jews (79–94 AD) as the evil genius behind the megalomaniacal project. Josephus’s widely circulated account deeply influenced visual depictions of the Tower of Babel in art. In miniatures and paintings, the powerful King Nimrod frequently plays a central role. Here, he visits the construction site with his entourage. His courtiers, bodyguards, and servants form a vibrant procession of people of all ages and colors. The scene unfolds in the lower right foreground. Nimrod appears dressed as an Eastern ruler: long beard, turban on his head, scepter in hand. His long, luxurious robe is lined with ermine. But while the arrogant Nimrod discusses the progress of construction with the architect, he fails to notice the dark clouds gathering above his head...

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