as it guides our eyes from one point to another

in a work of art. There is rhythm when there are

at least two points of reference in an artwork. For
example, the horizontal distance from one side
of a canvas to the other is one rhythm, and the
vertical distance from top to bottom, another.
So, even the simplest works have an implicit
rhythm. But most works of art involve shapes,
colors, values, lines, and other elements too;
the intervals between them provide points of
reference for more complex rhythms.
In Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel’s work,
we see not only large rhythmic progressions
that take our eye all around the canvas, but also
refined micro-rhythms in the repetition of such
details as the trees, houses, birds, and colors
(1.9.8). All these repetitive elements create a
variety of rhythms “all over.”
In Hunters in the Snow, the party of hunters
on the left side first draws our attention into the
work. Their dark shapes contrast with the light
value of the snow. The group is trudging over the
crest of a hill that leads to the right; our attention
follows them in the same direction, creating
the first part of a rhythmic progression. Our
gaze now traverses from the left foreground to
the middle ground on the right, where figures
1.9.8 Pieter Bruegel,
Hunters in the Snow, 1565.
Oil on panel, 46 × 633⁄4".
Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna, Austria
appear to be skating on a large frozen pond.
Thereafter, the color of the sky, which is reflected
in the skaters’ pond, draws our attention deeper
into the space, to the horizon. We then look at
the background of the work, where the recession
of the ridgeline pulls the eye to the left and into
the far distance. As a result of following this
rhythmic progression, our eye has circled round
and now returns to re-examine the original focal
point. We then naturally inspect details, such
as the group of figures at the far left making a
fire outside a building. As our eye repeats this
cycle, we also notice subsidiary rhythms, such
as the receding line of trees. Bruegel masterfully
orchestrates the winter activities of townspeople
in sixteenth-century Flanders (a region now
divided between Belgium, The Netherlands,
and part of northern France) in a pulsating
composition that is both powerful and subtle at
the same time.
Simple Repetitive Rhythm
Artists create repetition by using the same shape,
color, size, value, line, or texture over and over
again. A repeating “pulse” of similar elements sets
up a visual rhythm that a viewer can anticipate.