A Closer Look At The Art Of Pieter Bruegel The Elder

Explore the finer details of five paintings by the master of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance

The art of Pieter Bruegel the Elder is filled with remarkable minute details and hidden symbols that are almost imperceptible on first glance. Take a closer look at five of his most famous paintings with the Google art camera's super high definition zoom.

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
What we might expect to be the main action of this piece—Icarus plummeting out of the sky after flying too close to the sun with wings of wax—is unusually hard to fine at first glance. But if you zoom in on the bottom right corner you’ll see two legs flailing in the water. By making the subject of the painting nothing more than a small detail in a broader landscape Bruegel playfully promotes the painting of scenery for its own sake. The inclusion of other figures going about their business in the foreground also invites us to change our perspective; what is a momentous event to some, is completely incidental to others.

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus Pieter Bruegel The Elder Undated (From the collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Belgium) 

Detail from Landscape with the Fall of Icarus Pieter Bruegel The Elder Undated (From the collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Belgium) 

The Tower of Babel
Bruegel’s treatment of this biblical episode is full of meticulous details. Looking closely at the Tower we can see that he’s depicted various incompatible architectural styles and building techniques—an allusion to the chaos and confusion which, as the story goes, beleaguered the project after God created different languages to prevent the builders from communicating and thus completing their tower to the heavens.

The Tower of Babel Pieter Bruegel The Elder 1563 (From the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)

Zooming in on the towns in the background, we also get a strong sense of the titanic scale of the Tower— a castle to its right is dwarfed by the base. But Bruegel shows us the seeds of inevitable ruin. Everywhere bricks are crumbling, rocks are falling and workers dangle precariously on ledges.

Detail from The Tower of Babel Pieter Bruegel The Elder 1663 (From the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)

Hunters in the Snow
Arguably what makes this such an enduring image is not so much the main subjects but Bruegel's background depiction of a tight-knit community embracing the wintry holiday spirit. Zooming in on the frozen lakes, we see kids playing ice hockey, and everyone from lovers to matronly women having fun skating on the ice. The hunters may have had an unsuccessful expedition (they only bring one fox between the three of them), but we can imagine how welcoming the sight of home must be, not least the crackling orange fire to their left.

Hunters in the Snow Pieter Bruegel The Elder 1565 (From the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)

Detail from Hunters in the Snow Pieter Bruegel The Elder 1565 (From the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)

Children's Games Pieter Bruegel The Elder 1560 (From the collection of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)

But as always, there are those that take things a little bit too far... especially the group of six boys on the right who seem like they’re about to throw their friend into the air.

Detail from Children's Games Pieter Bruegel The Elder 1560 (From the collection of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)

Peasant Wedding
Bruegel immerses us within this scene so that we feel like we’re actually there in the midst of the festivities. The bride, dressed unassumingly and seated in the background under a green cloth, smiles quietly knowing that this day isn’t really about her: it’s an excuse for the whole village to have a party. Beer is poured to the left, food served on a makeshift tray (fashioned from an unhinged door) to the right. A frightened dog, trembling under the table in the far right gives us a sense of the terrific noise and commotion.

Peasant Wedding Pieter Bruegel The Elder 1566-9 (From the collection of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)

In the middle of it all is a man whose eyes comically bulge from his face, perhaps after having had one too many.

Detail from Peasant Wedding Pieter Bruegel The Elder 1566-9 (From the collection of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)