Koning Winter: Let It Snow! (deel 2)

This morning I saw a snowy landscape from the window. Perhaps the last time in January? The Elfstedentocht was not held until February 26, 1986. So who knows what is yet to come. In the past, we have dealt with severe winters, like the time of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, as evidenced by his artworks. Are you familiar with his artworks?

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Breugel or Breda, ca. 1525–1530 – Brussels, September 9, 1569) was a painter of the Northern Renaissance. He was the father of Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder. He wrote his own name and signed his works as Bruegel (without an “h”) from 1559 until his death, but his sons signed with Brueghel, which is therefore sometimes used for him as well. He lived in the period before Hendrick Avercamp (1585–1634), the period of the Little Ice Age. Below are a number of his winter landscapes.  

Hunters in the Snow (1565)

Hunters in the Snow depicts an idealized winter scene in which hunters, accompanied by their dogs, return after a hunt. Using muted colors with many shades of gray, Bruegel portrays a calm, cold, and cloudy day. The sun has already set, and there is no shadow. The trees stand leafless. Evidently, the hunt was not particularly successful: the dogs look weary and gaunt, and only one hunter carries the crippled carcass of a fox. Ahead of the hunters, a hare has left a trail in the snow.

The painting is further filled with details of sixteenth-century village life: a small river flows peacefully down from the mountains. A number of houses lie in the bend of the river, and in the area at the bottom right, numerous people can be seen skating and sledding. A form of curling is also being played on the ice. On an artificially created lake in the bottom right stands a watermill with a frozen wheel and a bridge; a castle lies in the mountains. The inn on the left is called 'Dit is gulden Hert' (This is the Golden Deer), which refers to Eustachius of Rome, the patron saint of hunters. The tilting of the sign can be seen as a reference to the unfortunate hunt of the depicted hunters. From the inn, the smell of smoke from the fire used to singe a pig seems almost palpable to the viewer. A bird trap is visible in the center of the image, a chimney fire in the distance (where aid is being sought with ladders), and in the foreground, snow presses down on a blackberry bush. The hunters in the painting are all standing with their backs turned to the viewer, creating the impression of an accidental and more or less covert observation. The typical Bruegelian motif was also a way to draw the viewer's gaze into the painting. The skating figures in the distance appear as small silhouettes, illustrating the insignificance of man in nature.  

Census in Bethlehem (1566)

From top to bottom and from left to right:

• Portrait of Pieter Bruegel the Elder by Johannes Wierix.
• Dulle Griet, 1563, Museum Mayer van den Bergh
• Winter landscape with skaters and bird trap, KMSKB
• The Fall of the Rebellious Angels, KMSKB
• The census at Bethlehem, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
• Block: Portrait of Pieter Bruegel the Elder

 

Winter landscape with skaters and bird trap (1565)

Another explanation for the source of inspiration has a more religious angle: a popular 16th-century interpretation of human existence held that man was viewed as a pilgrim who, while walking the path of life, had to resist numerous dangers and temptations many times in order to ultimately reach heaven. According to this explanation, the bird trap depicted in the painting, a type of bird trap, symbolizes temptations inspired by the devil that kept less devout believers away from the divine path. Birds have traditionally symbolized the human soul, and the devil's bird trap attempts to capture these souls and thus deny them access to heaven. Additionally, a skating scene is an emblem representing the uncertain nature of existence. After all, the slippery ice and the treacherous water beneath are unmistakable dangers for the unsuspecting skater. Both the birds and the skaters in this painting are vulnerable yet carefree, unaware of the danger lurking.  

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Multiple Christmas traditions blogs (more than 50): https://www.postzegelblog.nl/tag/kersttradities/