Critique of The Harvesters by Pieter Bruegel the Elder essays

Critique of The Harvesters by Pieter Bruegel the Elder essays Depicting a scene of Dutch wheat harvesters, The Harvesters, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder was completed in 1565. While wandering from painting to painting, I was intrigued by the large amount of activity that is happening in The Harvesters, and was more interested in it than other paintings on the list because it captured a scene from the everyday life of ordinary people. Bruegel chose the medium of oil to be used on wood when painting The Harvesters. He applies the paint thinly, with such delicacy that brush strokes were almost undetectable. Single strands or hay are visible in the patch, as well as great detail in the distant background. At no point does the wood (which is the only material used) show through, indicating completely opaque colors. While classifying this piece of artwork, I concluded that although it fits into two categories, landscape dominates, with genre playing a less significant role. The scene is of wheat harvesters both working in the field, and seemingly taking a break in the shade of a tree. The people are very small in the painting, although numerous, which led me to conclude that the land was the main subject. Bruegel painted the people in to play a supplementary role, as they help show how grand nature really is. The size of the painting is 461/2 by 631/2, about four tall feet by five feet wide. Since the depiction is very simple, of a landscape with everyday people in it, The Harvesters, frame is in contrast with its scene. The frame is very ornate and would seem to be better suited to surround the image of a royal garden or a king. The shapes in the painting are cut by the frame on all sides. On the right, the picture is cut short, in the middle of a haystack, by the frame. The frame cuts across a tree on top, a hillside on the left, and the hayfield and the ground are cut by the frame on the bottom. The composition of T...