Pieter Bruegel: Painter for Poets

Author(s): Donald B. Burness

Source: Art Journal, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Winter, 1972-1973), pp. 157-162
Published by: CAA
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/775727
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 Ultimately Bruegel rejec
the Italians while creating
Flemish giants who precee
Bruegel found kindred sp
his age, particularly Rab
We do not know for sure
their works. What is clear
human folly and his socia
pression through satire whic
Pieter Bruegel: Painter for Poets nique. Bruegel saw man as
sions, primarily lust, glut
Donald B. Burness
world is one of human suf
There are few creations of
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525 to 1569) is a unique
than The Misanthrope, B
phenomenon in the history of painting. Although he was
Shakespeare's Prospero, Th
a product of that period in Western thought called the
chews society which in the
Renaissance, it is difficult to detect in Bruegel's works
ized by the young urchin
many of the characteristics of his Italian or Flemish coe-
vals.
man) has created suffering
Old Flemish reads: "Because the world is so unfaithful I
Cinquecento Italy produced Raphael, Michelangelo, wear mourning."
Leonardo da Vinci, and Titian, among other celebrated
The literary quality of Bruegel's art cannot be exag-
painters whose works are characterized by a firm convic-
gerated. Over half of his subjects are taken from the Bi-
tion that man constitutes the center of the universe and
ble and others are illustrations of Flemish aphorisms.
that his beauty, intelligence and will are of heroic pro-
The Nest Robber and The Twelve Proverbs prove this
portions. The Biblical and mythological subjects treated
point. Bruegel does not merely create visual portraits of
by the Italian masters usually reflect a belief in harmony,
literary subjects. For instance, The Massacre of the Inno-
order, and cosmological oneness. The Flemish painters, cents is, among other things a satire against the Wal-
on the other hand, inculcated into their art much of the
loons, the French-speaking enemy of the Flemish. Brue-
optimism emanating from Florence and Venice and com-
gel dresses the looting soldiers in the attire of the Wal-
bined this with a strong native sense of realism. loons of his day. He does the same to the Roman soldiers
An examination of the paintings of Pieter Bruegel
in The Procession to Calvary. Truculent realism charac-
reveals a distinct unwillingness on his part to associate
terizes much of Bruegel's paintings, be the subject Bibli-
himself with either the Italianate or Flemish schools. Cer-
cal, mythological or aphoristic. Indeed, he reinterprets
tainly Bruegel was more than passingly familiar with the
traditional stories in a unique way. Very often his paint-
predominant modes of artistic expression in his age. A ings show a new version of an old tale.
long journey to Italy in the early 1550's took him to the
It is not surprising, therefore, to find that in this
principal art capitals. In fact, Bruegel's The Adoration of
modern age of distrust and unhappiness that Bruegel's
the Kings is the master's most concerted attempt to create
reputation and popularity have grown enormously. The
a work imitating the Italians in style and composition. It
nineteenth, and particularly the twentieth, centuries,
is a mannerist composition which, to my way of thinking,
have seen in Bruegel a spokesman for their own miseries.
is one of the least satisfactory of Bruegel's artistic accom-
Bruegel's vision has been such that various poets have
plishments. Bruegel, however, felt more at ease imitating been inspired by his painting. Alas, we have come full
Hieronymus Bosch whose macabre and lascivious scenes
circle. Bruegel, who worked for a publisher, Jerome
suggest a Dantesque vision of hell. The inclusion of mul-
Cock, in Antwerp by supplying designs for engravings
tiple scenes within a single painting and the union of the and who painted literary subjects, has himself become a
grotesque with the humorous are qualities Bruegel bor-
subject for literature. I know of no painter whose works
rowed from the Flemish master. Yet only two of Bruegel's
have attracted such diverse poets as Bruegel. A brief ex-
paintings, The Triumph of Death in the Prado and amination of some of these more celebrated poems will
Dulle Griet in the Musee Meyer Van den Bergh, Ant-
illuminate the literary quality of the master's art.
werp, can be considered reminiscent of Bosch.

DONALD BURNESS is an Assistant Professor of English at W. H. Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts is divided
Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire. He holds into two parts, the second of which refers directly
master's degrees both in English and in French and hasBruegel's Landscape with Fall of Icarus which approp
studied and traveled widely in Europe especially to see ately enough is found in the Musee des Beaux Arts
Bruegel's paintings. I Brussels:

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 Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Landscape with Fall of Icarus, Musee des Beaux Arts, Brussels.

"About suffering they were never wrong, Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the tor-
The Old Masters: how well they understood turer's horse

Its human position; how it takes place Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

While someone else is eating or opening a window or In Brueghel's Icarus, for instance: how everything
just walking dully along; turns away
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately wait- Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
ing Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
For the miraculous birth, there always must be But for him it was not an important failure, the sun
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skat- shone

ing As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the

On a pond at the edge of the wood: green
They never forgot Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have
seen

That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on."

In the initial stanza Auden alludes to the major Flemish the front left corner, the tax inspector is seated at a tab
masters of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries whose
in front of the inn while people gather in front. A
observes that the Masters understood particularly t
works are characterized by realism. These "Old Masters"
who often painted Biblical subjects included in human
their suffering takes place in a world often indiffe
to the misfortunes of individuals. It is worth noting
paintings depictions of contemporary, everyday reality.
For instance, in Bruegel's The Numbering at Bethle-
the entire stanza is composed of one sentence in orde
hem which hangs near his Icarus he introducedemphasize
many further the point that the events described h
personages engaged in daily activities, completely imper- pen simultaneously-the miraculous birth of Christ, c
vious to the collection of taxes as recounted in The Book dren skating, a dog defecating, a horse scratching.
of St. Luke. Bruegel turns the scene into a contemporary The second and concluding stanza concretely illu
event and sets it in a Flemish village. Children are skat-trates the general idea presented in the first part. Th
ing; hens are pecking up scraps of food; men and women story of Icarus is well known, having been told by
are going about their diurnal tasks. At the same timeOvid in and Apollodorus. While fleeing from the Labyri

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 Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Wedding Dance, The Detroit Institute of Arts. Purchase, City Appropriation.

with his father, Daedalus, Icarus flew too near the sun so THE DANCE

that the glue holding his wings melted and the wings "In Breughel's great picture, The Kermess,
dropped off. Foolish Icarus consequently fell into the sea.
the dancers go round, they go round, and
Bruegel's painting, his first great work, reinterprets the
around, the squeal and the blare and the
myth. Icarus himself is a relatively insignificant figure.
tweedle of bagpipes, a bugle and fiddles
We see only his two tiny legs in the lower right corner as
tipping their bellies (round as the thick-
he falls into the green water. The ploughman, the shep-
sided glasses whose wash they impound)
herd, the fisherman, and the sailors fail to perceive the
their hips and their bellies off balance
tragedy. They and their unwillingness to recognize the
to turn them. Kicking and rolling about
calamity that has happened constitute the principal sub-
the Fair Grounds, swinging their butts, those
ject of the painting. The shepherd looking skyward re-
shanks must be sound to bear up under such
minds one of Bruegel's blind men in The Blind Leading
rollicking measures, prance as they dance
the Blind. Auden remarks that these witnesses must have
in Breughel's great picture, The Kermess."
heard poor Icarus' scream or seen the amazing spectacle
of a boy falling from the sky. But the ship sails calmly on, Bruegel painted various works in his later y
the ploughman continues his work. Auden recognizes with the life and customs of the peasants
that Bruegel is a keen observer of human behavior, not Each villagi in Brabant had a patron saint
merely a painter illustrating a myth. Upon looking at brate the birthday of the saint, the village w
Bruegel's Icarus one can sense the despair felt by the art- in merrymaking. A Brabant native laughing
ist, a despair that probably remained with him until his that one can always tell the Saint's day of ea
death. checking on the birth date of its inhabitan
months after the Kermess it seems that many c
A second poet attracted to Bruegel is William Carlos born. Carousing and fornication were the m
Williams whose "The Dance" is based on Peasant Dance
of celebration. Moreover, the natives of the
or The Kermess.
joyed the festivities to such an extent th

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 Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hunters in the Snow, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

quently had more than one Kermess, the second usually belligerent friends. His is not the indignation of a m
coming in the winter months when the storage of beef guided by moral or human concern. On the contrary,
and pork was facilitated. The second Kermess had noth- venemous look seems to say "Stop interfering in my fu
ing to do with the patron saint. Rather, it was a manifes- He is stepping on two pieces of straw in the shape of t
tation of the people's desire to revel. cross. Such an action symbolizes the irreligiosity of t
Williams' poem does not concern itself with social or putatively religious celebration. Moreover, noone is eve
moral commentary as does that of Auden. "The Dance" looking at the picture of the saint in the tree in the u
uses meter, run-on lines, internal rhyme, assonance, conso- per right. A similar theme is found in Bruegel's T
nance, and repetition of words and lines to! create the Fight Between Carnival and Lent. Sensuality, aggressi
sense of frenzied movement found in Bruegel's painting. and excessive drinking are viewed with opprobrium b
The first and last lines are identical, suggesting the circle Bruegel.
in which the couples dance. The frequent use of present A very different series of paintings by Bruegel, The
participles, the continual rhyme of words ending in Seasons lacks such satiric intent. The series consists to-
'ound' ('round,' 'around,' 'impound,' 'ground,' 'sond') day of five paintings. Critics have debated for years as
the constant use of 'k,' '1,' and 'r' sounds, and the punc-
whether the original set consisted of twelve paintings
tuation within individual lines combine to create a sense one for each month of the year, or six works, in wh
of urgency and vitality. each painting represented two months. Each of the pain
Bruegel's peasant scenes are frequently satires on ings
the portrays a typical day in the life of villagers at diffe
bestiality of man. In Peasant Dance there are variousent in-times of the year, ranging from hay making in ear
dications that human folly has triumphed. The revelry summer to the corn harvest in late summer, to the return
has already reached a threatening stage, for a quarrelofhas the herd in autumn to hunters in the snow in winter.
broken out among the peasants seated at the table onJoseph the Langland's poem, "Hunters in the Snow: Brue
left-hand side. The cruel expression of the central dancerghel" verbally recaptures the wintry activities of the peas-
suggests genuine animosity on his part as he watchesants: his

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 HUNTERS IN THE SNOW: BRUEGHEL
Langland focuses on the hunters, their dogs, the lady
"Quail and rabbit hunters with tawny hounds, her bundled sticks over the bridge in the lower
carrying
Shadowless, out of late afternoon right, the peasant family in front of the inn, as well as
the scenery, buildings and general atmosphere of the two
Trudge toward the neutral evening of indeterminate
form. villages. The poet, however, is technically incorrect in his
Done with their blood-annunciated day allusion to the "imperturbable Flemish cliffs and crags."
Such topography is alien to Belgium or Holland. Bruegel
Public dogs and all the passionless mongrels
Through deep snow often paints rugged, mountainous terrain, but his inspi-
Trail their deliberate masters ration came from his travels through the Alps in his re-
turn trip from Italy several years after he arrived there in
Descending from the upper village home in hovering
light. 1551 or 1552. Hunters in the Snow is particularly re-
Sooty lamps markable in its faithful reproduction of life in Flanders
Glow in the stone-carved kitchens. in the 16th century. The extraordinary capacity to create
not just a few portraits or several buildings or a landscape,
but to portray an entire community in all its diversity is
This is the fabulous hour of shape and form
a wonderful quality of Bruegel's genius. But Hunters in
When Flemish children are gray-black-olive
the Snow is more than a story of village life; it is, in a
And green-dark-brown
sense, a vision of man in his world. Unlike Icarus or A
Scattered and skating informal figures
Peasant Dance Bruegel's winter scene lacks bitter skepti-
On the mill ice pond
cism. Perhaps Bruegel is suggesting in Hunters in the
Moving in stillness
Snow and the other paintings in The Seasons that man is
A hunched dame struggles with her bundled sticks,
a noble creature when he is busy working, for he has no
Letting her evening's comfort cudgel her
time to indulge in his basic instincts that can lead to suf-
While she, like jug or wheel, like a wagon cart
fering and misfortune.
Walked by lazy oxen along the old showlanes,
Bruegel's popularity with writers is not confined to
Creeps and crunches down the dusky street
poets writing in English. Baudelaire's "Les Aveugles"
High in the fire-red dooryard
(The Blind) was inspired by Bruegel's celebrated The
Half unhitched the sign of the Inn
Parable of the Blind:
Hangs in the wind
Tipped to the pitch of the roof. LES AVEUGLES

Near it anonymous parents and peasant girl,

"Contemple-les, mon ame; ils sont vra
Living like proverbs carved in the alehouse walls,
Pareils aux mannequins; vaguement ri
Gather the country evening into their arms
Terribles, singuliers comme les somnambules;
And lean to the glowing flames.
Dardant on ne sait ofu leurs globes tenebreux.

Now in the dimming distance fades Leurs yeux, d'ou la divine etincelle est partie,
The other village; across the valley Comme s'ils regardaient au loin, restent leves
Imperturbable Flemish cliffs and crags Au ciel; on ne les voit jamais vers les paves
Vaguely advance, close in, loom Pencher reveusement leur tete appesantie.
Lost in nearness. Now

The night-black raven perched in branching boughs Ils traversent ainsi le noir illimite,
Opens its early wing and slipping out Ce frere du silence eternel. O cite!
Above the gray-green valley Pendant qu'autour de nous tu chantes, ris et beugles,
Weaves a net of slumber over the snow-capped homes.
And now the church, and then the walls and roofs
Eprise du plaisir jusqu'a l'atrocite,
Of all the little houses are become
Vois! je me traine aussi! mais, plus qu'eux hebete,
Close kin to shadow with small lantern eyes. Je dis: Que cherchent-ils au Ciel, tous ces aveugles?"
And now the bird of evening
With shadows streaming down from its gliding wings The parable referred to is in St. Mathew XV, 14: "If
Circles the neighboring hills the Blind lead the Blind both shall fall into the ditch." In
Of Hertogenbosch, Brabant. various paintings Bruegel concerns himself with physical
suffering. Years before, in The Fight Between Carnival
Darkness stalks the hunters, and Lent a pathetic blind man can be seen among a
Slowly sliding down, group of beggars in the Lent side, while various cripples
Falling in beating rings and soft diagonals. appear on the side of carnival. A later work, The Crip-
Lodged in the vague vast valley the village sleeps." ples, portrays the lamentable lepers, possibly in an asy-

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lum in which they are isolated. A tragic mood prevails in
both The Cripples and The Parable of the Blind. In the
latter, the six figures, heads raised heavenward, seem to
be asking God the cause of their physical deformity. The
church in the background and the cross worn by the fifth
blind man, and the simple, trusting facial expressions
suggest that these men are not victimized by lack of faith
but rather by malevalent fortune. Yet Baudelaire's son-
net reflects a more profound pessimism than does the
Yet there upon the slippery allegorical waves,
Under her tilted and towering beehive of a hat,
Hope, the beliefless lady, rides out the storm
With a shovel in one hand and a sickle in the other
Keeping her silly balance in the impossible world,
Her slippers steady on the shank of an unsinkable an-
chor."
BRUEGHEL: THE TRIUMPH OF TIME

Bruegel painting. "Les Aveugles" first appeared among a

"Passing a Flemish village and a burning ci
group of poems under the heading "Tableaux Parisiens"
in 1861 in the second edition of Les Fleurs du Mal. One possibly Babylon the Great, bringing the S
from Winter and any beginning to its end
of the principal themes of this collection is the moral de-
the actors in the ramshackle traveling show
cay of Parisian life. Baudelaire, a modern prophet, warns that does whatever's done and then undoes it:
that modern society has become a second Babylon domi-
the horses of the sun and moon, stumbling on plate
nated by sensuality and science. Unlike Bruegel's blind
and bullion, patiently pull the flat-bed wagon
men, Baudelaire's despair is such that he has no hope of where Cronos munches a child and the zodiac-encircled
finding eternal light. He cannot understand why world
Bruegel's blind are appealing for divine love. Perhaps the
bears up a tree that blossoms half and withers half;
answer lies in the fact that Bruegel always wanted to be-
Death on a donkey follows, sloping his scythe,
lieve in Christianity.
and last a trumpeter angel on elephant
is puffing the resurrection and the end of days.
Besides his paintings, Bruegel's etchings have in-
spired poetic creations. Howard Nemerov, the American
Under the wheels, and under the animal's feet,
poet currently teaching at Washington University in St.
Louis, has composed two such poems, "Hope" and "Brue- palette and book are broken with the crowns of kings
ghel: The Triumph of Time": and the instruments of music, intimating to our eyes
by means of many examples the Triumph of Time,
HOPE which everything that is, with everything that isn't
as Brueghel patiently puts it down, exemplifies."
"(as Brueghel drew her)
The Lady Hope should look ridiculous, and she does
Nemerov has proclaimed Bruegel to be his favorite
There on the storming sea, in the wind and rough
weather painter primarily because he is such a literary painter.
His poems translate the pictures into words. Can it be
that the lady Hope survives the storm because of her
Of our mortality, where the waves leap slavering white shovel and sickle? Certainly in The Seasons Bruegel has
Against the granite of the landing stage intimated that working the land provides man with some
And the municipal jail under whose raised portcullis hope for success. At any rate, the theme of hope is not
Prisoners are sitting, their hands manacled to prayer. alien to much of Bruegel's work. Concerning "Brueghel:
The Triumph of Time" Nemerov has remarked that in
Back further in the village a house is near burnt downour age we have practically no imagination of time. Brue-
But still the bucket brigade is climbing its ladders gel sees time as a freak show. The poet's allusion to
Against the one remaining wall and pouring water "Chronus" is of particular significance. Some of our
Into the empty blaze; while out on the wharf a fisher-words for time ("chronology" for instance) have their
man
source in Chronus who, in mythology, ate his own chil-
Heeds nothing but his lines, and beside him a gravid
dren. Nemerov views Breugel's etching as a commentary
Vrouw on the gratuitous nature of time.
Unconcernedly surveys the turbulence out to sea,
Where in the lather and chop of the hounding waters
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ships capsize and split and go down, and the men are
Bennington Review for "Hope" of Howard Nemerov.
drowning New Yorker Magazine for "Brueghel: The Triumph of Tim
Though they cling while they can to splintered mast or Nemerov.
Garnier Freres for "Les Aveugles" of Charles Baudelaire.
spar; Scribner's Sons for "Hunters in the Snow: Brueghel" of Joseph Lang
Where even the great fish, the privileged of the Flood, New Directions Publishing Co. for "The Dance" of William Ca
Williams.
Are shipping water over the gunwales of their mouths Random House and Faber and Faber LTD for "Musee des Beaux Arts"
And may already be going down for the third time. of W. H. Auden.

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