Pieter Bruegel the Elder Analysis
The battle between the religious and the secular has been a widely used theme in art for centuries. With the birth of the Renaissance and a turning away from the Catholic dominated life, art began to express the reality behind the central problem of human existence; the struggle between being a pious Christian and being an individual. Pieter Bruegel the Elder is an artist who was fascinated by this eternal struggle. Considered the greatest Flemish painter of the age, Bruegel created many controversial paintings that portrayed his beliefs towards the religious conflicts of his age. None of his paintings reveals his beliefs more clearly than “The Battle between Carnival and Lent.” A painting filled with symbolism, “The Battle” expressed Bruegel’s attitude towards the Catholic-Lutheran conflicts that were occurring in his time. Although Bruegel painted “The Battle between Carnival and Lent” in 1559, in the latter period of the Northern Renaissance, the painting does not wholly embody aspects of Renaissance work. With the painting’s strong religious theme and grotesque, unrealistic human figures, “The Battle” presents an element of medieval art. The painting is representative of its era by the way in which Br
The painting is representative of its era however, in it’s color scheme and perception of depth. “The Battle between Carnival and Lent” is an excellent example of the wonders that were created with the invention of oil paint. Filled with excellent shadowing and earth tones that bring the painting into the real world, the brown dominated color scheme of “The Battle” makes it representative of the Renaissance. The brown format also enhances the intense nature of the subject matter and relates to the reality of the bleak existence of the inhabitants of the village. The shadowing allowed with oil paint also creates the depth in the painting. The brightly colored and detailed figures in the foreground, contrasted against the brown and dismal middle and background allow for the viewer to look into a realistic world, one that is built horizontally, unlike the vertical painting of the medieval artists. “The Battle” also contains both linear and atmospheric depth, which adds an element of realism and naturalism that typifies the Renaissance. The figures battling in the foreground are much larger than the buildings and doorways shadowed in the background and there is a main focus point in the center of the work where all of the movement of the warriors seems to lead. Through his ability to pick and chose the elements of both the medieval era and the Renaissance and incorporate them into his work to convey his beliefs, Bruegel is able to create a work that transcends genres and can relate to almost any era. Since the work is essentially about religious conflicts and the battle between good, or piety, and evil, or self-indulgence and temptation, and since religious conflicts are inevitable and continuous parts of life, “The Battle between Carnival and Lent” can be associated with almost any society throughout history. “The Battle between Carnival and Lent” is one of Pieter Bruegel’s earliest works. Painted in 1559, in oil on wood panel, “The Battle” was used by Bruegel to reveal his opinions about the religious turmoil that plagued his country. The subject of the work is literally the annual weekl
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Approximate Word count = 1448
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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