Winter Scenes by Peasant Bruegel

Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel lived from about 1525 to 1569. He is known in the art world as Pieter Bruegel the Elder because his son of the same name became a well-known artist as well. Pieter Bruegel the Elder was also called “Peasant Bruegel” because of the scenes he painted. Through his art he told the story of the peasant life. His art depicts peasant weddings and dances along with chilly winter days of returning home from the hunt. Bruegel doesn’t glorify his peasants nor does he seem to sympathize with them. They simply are. The lines in their faces from years of hard work are captured in his art; the irony of the foolish is characterized; joy in life’s celebrations is revealed. Bruegel painted a number of Biblical scenes: the Tower of Babel, Adoration of Kings, Procession to Calvary, yet it is his winter scenes that hold me.

Simple cottages surrounding a frozen lake, figures bundled up to stay warm, a snowy coating over all and the chill of the landscape in the distance all entertain my eyes in "Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap." http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bru...

In "Winter Scene with Skaters," the hawk flying overhead adds a quietness to the scene. Surely the children playing on the ice below are laughing and shouting, but through the hawk, I soar through the wintry sky in silence and peace, high above all human activity. http://tvm.tigtail.org/TVM/M_View/X1/e.N...

In "The Return of the Hunters," the green and black color scheme indicate the approach of nighttime. The droop in the hunters’ shoulders and the hanging heads of their dogs bespeak of a long tiring day. I imagine how they must look forward to the warmth of a fire in their modest homes. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bru...

When I gaze at the winter scenes painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder I feel the chill of an icy wind, I hear the crunch of frosty snow beneath my boots, I sense the numbness of frozen fingers and envision seeing my breath in the frigid air. I suppose, while it may give an unfair impression to say so, that they leave me cold. On the other hand they make me grateful for the warmth of the central heat in my home – despite its cost. They make me grateful for my modern stove - no need for me to build a fire to cook my dinner. I appreciate even more the convenience of the local grocery store – never being one for going out to hunt for my own food in the wilds. Not being particularly athletic I’m pleased to be able to view Bruegel’s skaters instead of going out and falling down on the slick ice myself.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder makes me appreciate my modern and comfy-warm existence and reminds me to celebrate what I might otherwise take for granted.

Copyright 2002 Patricia Dake

Sources:

History of Art ~ A Survey of the Major Visual Arts from the Dawn of History to the Present Day by H.W. Janson, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ and Harry Abrams, Inc., New York, 1977.

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bru...

http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/bio/b/bruegel/...

http://tvm.tigtail.org/TVM/M_View/X1/e.N...