Stlukesguild

Beyond his more fantastic work Breughel was a master of the landscape. He is largely credited with perfecting the so-called "world view" or the high point of view from which the horizon stretches back to infinity. He is also unrivaled in his ability to suggest weather and atmosphere. His greatest landscapes comprised a series of paintings known as the "Months" or "Seasons" of which 5 survive. There may only have been 6 (one for every 2 months), but if there actually were 12 the loss of 7 of these paintings is an almost incomprehensible loss to the history of art.

Hunters in the Snow presents a stark image of hunters graphically silhouetted against the snow and harsh winter landscape. The hunters carrying their fresh kill have just entered (with their dogs) the outskirts of the village which spreads out below. Women are seen doing laundry outdoors over a raging fire, while children play on the ponds of ice:



In Gloomy Day a paper crown worn by a child (among other details) places this painting around Lent... making the time of year February or March. Dark and dramatic clouds threaten on the horizon as ships flounder in the churning waters. Peasants pin up grape vines in preparation for spring while others gather brushwood for fire with their shears:




August/Summer/The Harvesters virtually radiates heat and a sweltering haze of humidity that leaves the laboring peasants lying exhausted on the ground:



In Haymaking the artist, by contrast, presents a cool autumn day. A trio of lovely peasant girls are on their way out to the fields under a clear sky:



Later, no doubt they will participate in a hearty peasant dance full of mirth, joviality, and drunkenness... not unlike that portrayed in Breughel's Kermess (Peasant Dance):



Breughel's landscape paintings... especially the previous two... would have a profound impact upon the greatest Flemish painter to follow: Peter Paul Rubens... and subsequently... through him... the whole of Flemish and European painting. Rubens was greatly enamored of Breughel's fluid handling of color, his mastery of landscape, and his close observation of nature and people. The later master would actually own several of Breughel's paintings... including the lovely Haymaking. Breughel's influence can be especially seen in Ruben's masterful Kermese:



In Breughel's later paintings the artist greatly simplified his imagery and the figures became increasingly monumental... undoubtedly in response to the work of the great Renaissance artists (especially Michelangelo) whose work he may have been exposed to through copies or through engravings. In Luilekkerland or The Land of Cockaigne, a few figures suffice where once the artist would have utilized an entire crowd. The painting comments upon sloth and laziness presenting an image of a scholar, a peasant farmer, and a soldier all having abandoned their posts... lying sprawled out beneath a table laden with food and drink. Cockaigne was a fantasy world not unlike the "Great Rock Candy Mountain" where roast chickens lay down on the plate before you, roast pigs travel from person to person equipped with a knife to cut a fresh slice, and the very roofs of the houses are made from pies.



Many of the artist's later painting are of religious subjects. The magnificent Death of the Virgin is painted in a marvelous monochromatic manner and displays a dramatic use of light that far predates the tennebrism of Caravaggio and Rembrandt:



In spite of the Biblical themes, Breughel did not avoid to continue making wry social commentary. In his painting, The Road to Calvary...



... the artist presents the tragic events of the passion as they unfold under an almost carnival atmosphere. The wealthy are decked out in their finest striving to be seen. Attractive girls, in return, strive to catch the eye of a wealthy suitor. Crowds play and wrestle and drink and fight... pickpockets and thieves go about their business, whilel the mourning Virgin, St. Matthew, St. Anne, and Christ struggling to carry his cross to the Calvary... in the distance... are all almost lost in the mad rush.

In John the Baptist in the Wilderness Breughel presents the Biblical prophet as if he were one of the banned Protestant preachers conducting an illegal impromptu revival in the Flemish countryside. During the early years of the Spanish Catholic rule imposed upon the Netherlands and carried out by the ruthless Duke of Alba, Brueghel's subtle critique conveyed a true bravery. Indeed... contrary to the preaching of orthodox Catholicism, Breughel presents a view in which Christianity is there for all mankind. Among the crowd one sees Lutheran, Calvinist, Chinese, Islamic, and other non-European listeners:



Perhaps the final painting produced by Breughel was the Magpie of the Gallows. This painting was left in the artist's will to his wife. Some have speculated that the artist was making a subtle comment to her. Gossiping women were often referred to as "magpies" (as they might be called "harpies" today). What, if any message, did the artist intend by placing the magpie upon the gallows? On the other hand... it may simply be that the artist was willing his beloved a painting that he found especially beautiful... a lovely scene painted in a fluid and almost Impressionistic manner where death certainly is not forgotten... but life goes on and lovers continue to dance in its very shadow.