Peter Bruegel the Elder: The Harvesters The Baroque period of art was praised for its introduction to beautifully rendered details, emotion seeking subjects, and its drama specific compositions. One of the most prominent art figures during this era was Peter Bruegel the Elder who captured the significance of everyday peasantry life between the 16th and 17th century. Peter Bruegel was apart of a Netherlandish family who were also active artists for generations. During the later 1520’s into the 1530’s, Bruegel became masters’ of the Guild of Saint Luke where he held power over apprentices and had a responsibility to sell paintings to the public, including his own (Wisse). The Guild of Saint Luke marks the start of Bruegel’s journey as an artist; by 1555, he …show more content…
Atmospheric perspective was first introduced by Leonardo da Vinci and was commonly used in paintings during the Netherlands in the 15th century. It refers to the “technique of creating illusion of depth by depicting distant objects as paler, less detailed than near objects” ("Aerial perspective."). In The Harvesters, detailing in the foreground is in clear focus from the bark and leaves of the tree to the clothing worn by the peasants. As one looks to the landscape behind the foreground, the trees become fuzzy, wheat becomes blurred and the lake lacks detail as it blends into the grey sky. Similarly, in Hunters in the Snow, the tree bark, dog fur, their footprints in the snow, and the clothing of the peasants are also clearly detailed in the foreground. As the eye begins to focus on the landscape, the clothing of the peasants all fade into the color black, and the texture of snow and grass turns smooth. Breughel’s use of atmospheric perspective is done intentionally to emphasize the most important aspects of his paintings ; the foreground is where peasants engage in everyday activities, a common highlight in Breughel’s