Forty on the gallows ( niderl. De ekster op de galg ) - painting by Peter Bruegel the Elder . Written in 1568 in oil on wood. Stored in the Museum of Hesse in Darmstadt .
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| Peter Bruegel the Elder | ||
| Forty on the gallows . 1568 | ||
| the nether De ekster op de galg | ||
| wood , oil . 45.9 × 50.8 cm | ||
| Museum of Hesse, Darmstadt | ||
Content
Description
The central part of the picture is occupied by the gallows , on which sits forty . The bird personifies talkativeness leading to slander and betrayal. The image of peasants dancing under the gallows probably refers to the Flemish proverb “Roads to the gallows go through cheerful lawns”. The picture refers to the late period of creativity Bruegel (1525 / 30-1569), written by him a year before his death. The artist highly appreciated the work and bequeathed it to his wife, Meken Cook. On the themes of folklore Bruegel addressed earlier. The most famous in this regard is his work "Flemish Proverbs."
The view from above is typical of Bruegel's canvases. Due to this perspective, the viewer as if looks at what is happening detached. Landscape embodies the whole universe in which the drama unfolds. The carelessness of the dancing peasants contrasts with the huge gallows, which they do not seem to notice. Perhaps for the consciousness of a medieval man the contrast was not so striking. Instruments for carrying out death sentences were exposed in prominent places for edification, therefore the plot of the dance under the gallows was inspired by the harsh reality.
The gallows itself is shaped like an impossible figure .
Landscape plays in the picture is not a decorative, but meaning-making role. This is not the scenery for the genre scene, but the embodiment of the entire universe. In this sense, Bruegel continues the iconographic tradition: against the background of the landscape, what is happening on the canvas acquires a universal sound.
Creation Context
By contemporaries, the gallows was perceived as a symbol of the struggle against dissent. Breugel was about twenty, when in Amsterdam and other cities mass Anabaptists were burned. When he was about forty, the army of the Duke of Alba entered Brussels . The following years, Alba engaged in violent destruction of heretics , several thousand Dutch were sentenced to death. The gallows waited for the preachers who carried the new, Protestant faith to the masses. Alba’s terror was based on rumors and denunciations, so the choice of magpies as a symbol of talkativeness in the picture is not accidental.
Fragments of the picture
Magpie
City
Literature
- Lviv S. L. Peter Bruegel the Elder - Publisher: TERRA, 1998.
- Queen A. Yu. The great artists of the Netherlands XV-XVII centuries. - M .: “OLMA-PRESS Education”, 2005.
- artclassic.edu.ru