Mad Greta (picture)

At the time that Bruegel the Elder lived, there was a conflict with Spain in the early 1560s, which grew into widespread popular uprisings, religious persecution and related executions - these are the Netherlands in the work “Mad Greta” ^[3] . Around the mid-1540s, Brueghel (Elder) moved to Antwerp , where he studied in the studio with Peter Cook van Alst , the personal court painter of Emperor Charles V. Later, he moved with his family to Brussels and began work on a picture that reflected in a sarcastic form his personal attitude to what was happening around him. This work was called “Mad Greta”, sometimes cited as “Mad Mad” ^{[4] [5]} . Being a Flemish by descent, Brueghel respected national folklore and therefore chose an old woman from the traditions to display greed and vice. The name Greta in Flanders was a household name and embodied the greed and belligerence unusual for women ^[6] . In the plot of the picture he conveyed a personal condemnation of such human vices as madness, greed and cruelty. Bruegel depicted on his canvas the tragedy of the real life of that time. Thus, in 1561-1562, Brueghel for the first time in Dutch art created a composition that indirectly reflected specific social conflicts of that time ^[7] .

The style that was used in the painting involves the transmission of horror from the depicted scenes and a difficult understanding of what is happening. This work to some extent surpasses the phantasmagoria in the work of Jerome Bosch . The illusion of escalating the atmosphere was achieved through the artist's use of red colors for the sky, displaying haze, placing various mystical creatures that are born from the jaws on the left over the whole background. People in a fit of madness die in a crush, the creators of which they themselves are, not noticing anything around. The allegory of greed is conveyed by the plot, where they seek to collect as much gold as possible, which is nothing more than a waste of the giant's life. Bruegel departed from the classical manner of conveying the atmosphere of chaos and hell with the help of painted devils or Satan, depicting people with their vices. The key character of the canvas is a woman with a sword in her hand and a dagger behind her belt, dressed in rags. To give her the appearance of a mad woman, the artist portrayed her with her eyes wide and her mouth open meaninglessly. Developing the idea of ​​her militancy, according to Flemish mythology, Bruegel draws Greta with a sword in his hands, while running, dressed in a helmet and armor. Not far from her, on the bridge, there is a fight between women. The atmosphere of tragedy and drama was achieved by the transfer of a variety of figures and objects, the interweaving of people and fantastic creatures ^[8] .

In the name of the painting, additional meaning is hidden, since at the time of its writing the " Big Greta " was also called a gun. Bruegel used it as an allegory on the motives of the war, which covers the world, which is reflected in the dilapidated walls of the fortress, fire and armed soldiers ^{[9] [10]} .

Karel van Mander, the first among the biographers of Brueghel (the Elder), noted the following: Greta is depicted not just in a strange way, but her clothes, for some unknown reason, resemble Scottish. In his opinion, the picture is not just fantastic, it can be called surreal ^[6] .