To Live by the Sickle, to Die by the Sickle (Blog 6)

The art of mid 16th century Europe was radically different than that which preceded it. The prior Italian Renaissance of the 15th and early 16th centuries had encouraged a rebirth of Greek and Roman ideas of literature, science, and art. This renaissance of classical ideas resulted in one very significant philosophical movement, termed "Humanism." Humanism is a school of philosophy which emphasizes the value of the human race, as well as each individual person. The influence of humanism was what caused sculptors of the Renaissance to deviate from High Classical Greek ideas of idealized perfection and "arete," and while creating beautiful art to also emphasize the humanity of the subject at hand, as Michelangelo did in his Sistine Chapel ceiling. Well, the Italians may have developed the ideas of humanism, but the Dutch took those ideas and further developed them, as Pieter Breugel the Elder did in his 1565 masterpiece The Harvesters. 

The Harvesters shows a group of peasants harvesting wheat in the fields. The painting is believed to be a member of a 5-6 panel artwork which depicted the seasons of the year, with this painting representing late summer. Breugel has taken extreme care in painting the landscape, with detail rivaling that of the ancient Romans. Romans, however, would rarely represent the undesirables of their society, nor would the Greeks (save Old Market Woman). The artist has no intention of idealizing the figures, just to represent them accurately, as they naturally appear. We see exhausted workers sitting for lunch and some still devout in their labors of the sickle. This painting is a telling commentary on the lives of the poor, and how they survive from day to day, contrast to the depictions of religious figures in Italy, yet equally as beautiful. I was extremely lucky to stumble across this painting at the Met on Thursday, so here's The Harvesters.