Bruegel: Birth Of A New Genre

what you're looking at now is arguably the first significant work of art depicting regular people published in 1558 this is a print of Peter brugel the elders ice skating before the Gate of Saint George it's an urban scene of citizens and Antwerp enjoying a winter afternoon skating walking playing observing laughing there's no judgment here just a depiction of what it was really like one day 465 years ago so why is that revolutionary well for much of the history of art painting was dominated by religious and mythological themes as well as portraiture of monarchs and the ruling Elite this is due to the fact that the church and the aristocracy commissioned the vast majority of the art being made but in the 16th century that started to change and particularly in the low countries what constitutes modern day Belgium and the Netherlands a trading Mecca the low countries saw the rapid emergence of a merchant middle class in this period with enough money to patronize local artists it makes sense that they wanted to see art that reflected their own lives and with the rise of reproducible prints like this one Art became more affordable broadening the audience even further but there were other forces at play too Chief among these the Protestant Reformation which was gaining a foothold throughout the low countries and inflaming tensions with their Spanish and Catholic overlords the Protestants who advocated for a simplification of worship shared a dislike for religious images believing that they could lead to idolatry and things came to a head in August 1566 with the building storm or the iconoclastic Fury in which groups of Calvinists ransacked churches and monasteries throughout the low countries destroying religious images statues and altars this was the precipitating event of the 80 years war when the Dutch revolted against their Spanish rulers and eventually won Independence brugel made this drawing just eight years before the War Began in a period ripe for new genres of art it was also a period of rising humanism thanks to the influence of northern Renaissance thinkers like Erasmus of Rotterdam Erasmus famously used satire to critique the social religious and political failings of his time in an entertaining way and satire also found its way into the visual arts bringing with it depictions of ordinary people in 1514 Quentin masseuse made the money changer and his wife showing an ordinary man and woman counting money you can tell by their outfits that they aren't Nobles the painting is satirical criticism on the pursuit of material wealth at the expense of spiritual wealth the wife is thoughtlessly flipping through a book of devotion while Her Eyes Are Fixed On the cache in Van hemisen's Loose company from 1540 and ertson's the Egg dance from 1552 peasants drink and dance in messy brothels these paintings are moral warnings against debauchery and lust brugel made several satires of his own depicting Ordinary People only to ridicule their vices in all these paintings the subject isn't so much the people but the vice itself which is what makes this skating scene so radical there is no satire here no moralizing judgment just a naturalistic presentation of everyday life in the following years brugal painted a number of masterpieces of a similar content winter landscapes peasants dancing eating getting married some do see a little satire in these paintings but I don't I see curiosity observation warmth even I see a new genre of painting being born I see art broadening its Horizons at long last the paperback for my book of essays has just been released if you like this video I think that you'll like my book too so I'll put the link in the description below this episode was brought to you by Squarespace Squarespace is the all-in-one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online whether you're just starting out or managing a growing brand Squarespace makes it easy to create beautiful websites engage with your audience and sell anything from products to content to time all in one place all on your terms their templates are flexible their blogging tools are super easy to use and Squarespace provides you with all the analytics you need to iterate and grow your business head over to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch that site go to squarespace.com nerdwriter for 10 off your first purchase thanks guys I'll see you next time

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Id: xC-cyrIq-qI

Length: 4min 59sec (299 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 25 2023