While studying about the arts of the Northern Renaissance in Europe I happened upon the artwork of Pieter Bruegel, the Elder. Bruegel’s paintings were all so unique and in particular I was drawn to his 1559 painting entitled Netherlandish Proverbs. Bruegel painted this immense scene while he had taken up residence in Antwerp, Flanders.
Bruegel lived during a time of great change. The thought, culture and religion of the time was in transition. With the influx of Greek texts and a written Bible available to some, people were more accepting of secular works. These new concepts sparked the growth of the renaissance. The humanistic style had become popular among artists of the time. HistoryGuide.org describes the concept behind humanism.
The return to favor of the pagan classics stimulated the philosophy of secularism, the appreciation of worldly pleasures, and above all intensified the assertion of personal independence and individual expression.
I am not sure if any artist embraced and expressed humanism as well as Bruegel. Bruegel’s paintings are characterized by their vast landscapes, bright primary hues and peasant scenes.
Netherlandish Proverbs is a marvelous painting filled to the brim with human interactions and reactions. I believe Bruegel’s intent was to express the foolishness and immorality of people as is natural in a sinful world.
but ‘Netherlandish Proverbs’ is thought to be the first large scale representation of the genre in Flemish painting. The proverbs in question are of two types: those which turn reason on its head, thus demonstrating the absurdity of much of our behaviour; and more serious proverbs illustrating the dangers of folly, which leads to sin. Following in the moralistic (albeit more humanistic) tradition of Bosch, Bruegel offers us a topsy-turvy world, with the Devil seen in the centre of the painting hearing confession.
This piece was simply fascinating to me. Each time you look at it there is something that you missed. The painting is very inviting and pulls you into it. The humans may not be as detailed as some of the Northern Renaissance, such as the portraits, but they are still detailed and not disproportional. The colors for the most part are what you would expect to have seen in a city. Bruegel manages to incorporate some very beautiful shades of blues into the building, objects and clothing.
It is also fun trying to determine what the proverbs are that Bruegel was trying to express. One that is still in use today is not to bang one’s head against a brick wall. How many can you discover?
~Heidi
1. http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/humanism.html
2. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/netherlandish-proverbs.htm