The Peasant Dance
| File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Peasant Dance - WGA3499.jpg | |
| Artist | Pieter Bruegel the Elder |
|---|---|
| Year | 1567 |
| Type | Oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 114 cm × 164 cm (45 in × 65 in) |
| Location | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
The Peasant Dance is an oil-on-panel by Flemish renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painted in c. 1569. It is currently held and exhibited at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Description
This panel, not signed nor dated, was looted by Napoleon Bonaparte and brought to Paris in 1808, being returned in 1815.[1] It was painted at about the same time as The Peasant Wedding, that is, circa 1567. The sizes of the two paintings are the same and they may have been intended as a pair or as part of a series illustrating peasant life.[2] They are the two most outstanding examples of Bruegel's late style, which is characterized by his use of monumental Italianate figures.[3]
Details
Like The Peasant Wedding, it is likely that Bruegel intended this painting to have a moral sense rather than simply being an affectionate portrayal of peasant life. Gluttony, lust and anger can all be identified in the picture. The man seated next to the bagpipe player wears a peacock feather in his hat, a symbol of vanity and pride.[4] The occasion for the peasants' revelry is a saint's day, but dancers turn their backs on the church and pay no attention whatsoever to the image of the Virgin which hangs on the tree. The prominence of the tavern makes it clear that they are preoccupied with material rather than spiritual matters.[5]
References
- ↑ Danza di contadini.
- ↑ Cf. Pietro Allegretti, Brueghel, Skira, Milano 2003. ISBN 0-00-001088-X (Italian)
- ↑ There is another version of this subject by Bruegel in a painting in the Detroit Institute of Arts, entitled The Wedding Dance (see image at Wikimedia: "Bruegel dance 1566 Detroit"). It is dated 1566 and although the surface is rather worn, it is today generally accepted as an authentic work from Bruegel's own hand. The composition is more crowded and in consequence more effective than the Vienna picture.
- ↑ See Grove Art Online
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pieter Bruegel the Elder. |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Peasant Dance. |
- The Peasant Dance at the KHM
- Kunsthistorisches Museum's Official Website
- Bosch Bruegel Society
- 99 works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- Creativity Brueghel laid the foundation of the Netherlands School
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| Notable paintings |
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| Survives in copies | ||
- Articles with Italian-language external links
- Pages with broken file links
- Commons category link is locally defined
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the Encyclopedia Americana with a Wikisource reference
- 1567 paintings
- Paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder
- Flemish painters
- Flemish Renaissance painters
- Paintings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum
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