Return of the Hunters - Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel's “Return
of the Hunters" is a Northern Renaissance piece. This 1565 oil on wood
panel is one of the most famous landscape paintings of the Era. Peter Bruegel
began his career (1525-1569) by imitating the work Hieronymus Bosch. He enjoyed
painting detailed landscapes with many objects while also having ironic
subjects. Bruegel's work was interesting because he painted landscapes,
while most Renaissance artists traveling through Italy recorded the ruins of
ancient Rome.
Bruegel's painting is
one of a series of landscape paintings that portray the life in the early
winter months during this era. At first glance, this painting seems like a
typical landscape painting, but after observing for a while, there are many
details that someone would not notice. For instance, the hunters return home
walking over the hillside that overlooks the town. When you look closer, it is
evident that the hunters did not have a successful day hunting, both the
dogs and hunters’ heads are down as if they are disappointed with their
gatherings.
Although the hunters
seem to be the subject of this painting, the landscape of the alpine
background is the main focus. The mountains in this painting were based on
Bruegel's travels through the Alps, but he added people into the landscape as
well to draw the attention away from the hunters. By taking a closer look, most
of the details are in the landscape portion of the painting. For example,
people skating on the pond, snow covered rooftops, thin bare trees in the
distance, and even a person carrying sticks across a bridge. Bruegel included
these minute details into his painting to show how people during the Northern
Renaissance era lived from day to day.
https://cdn.kastatic.org/ka-perseus-images/3c39081bfc32cf38cb87ae62117540994526b12f.jpg
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