Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Harvesters

Pieter Bruegel the Elder finished The Harvesters, an oil painting on wood, in 1565. It shows the harvest, which takes place in late summer, either in July or August. This picture was ordered by Antwerp merchant banker and art collector Nicolaes Jonghelinck.

The artwork is a part of a series of six pieces that show several seasons, five of which are still in existence. The peasants and their work are highlighted, as in many of his paintings, and there are no religious overtones, which were typical of landscape paintings at the time. Notably, the peasants are depicted both producing and consuming food, with some of them seen eating while others are harvesting wheat. A figure in the tree to the far right is picking pears, and pears can be seen on the white cloth in front of the upright sitting woman who is eating bread and cheese. This focus on detail is evident across the entire artwork as a series of ever-finer observations fading into space. It was extraordinary for a time when landscapes served mostly as backdrops for religious paintings.

Numerous activities typical of rural life in Belgium during the 16th century are depicted in the artwork. For instance, a person is shaking fruit from the tree in the far right corner. A group of villagers can be seen engaging in the blood sport of cock throwing in the painting's center left. Since 1919, the artwork has been housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This picture is referred described as the "first modern landscape" and a "watershed in the history of Western art" by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The people bathing in the pond, the people playing, the kids running around, and the ships off in the distance all convey a sense of distance.

Artist: Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Created: 1565