and sword. The meaning is unclear, but Meg has “the wild stare of the true
fanatic, armed for combat,” as one art historian noted.
Hunters in the Snow (1565) is from a series devoted to the months. Only six
seem to have survived, but there must have been the full complement of 12.
This winter scene could have been January.
Our next example is the Conversion of St. Paul (c. 1567). This is correctly
called the conversion of Saul, his name before the conversion. This was a
popular subject in the 16th century, when conversions to Protestant sects or
re-conversions to Roman Catholicism were the centerpiece of theological
concern. Saul, on the road to Damascus, where he was going to obtain
permission from the synagogue to arrest Christians, was suddenly struck to
the ground by a light from heaven that blinded him. He heard a voice saying,
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Paul is dif¿ cult to locate, because
Bruegel treats the scene like the Fall of Icarus. Paul is just one of many
¿ gures; he is on the ground in front of the foreshortened horse. This painting
is about sight, seeing, understanding, and conversion. It is also about pride.
Saul was proud—remember Conques, the knight falling into hell—and pride
goeth before a fall. Note the detailed alpine
landscape, recreated from Bruegel’s imagination
and his drawings.
The Land of Cockaigne (1567) has a folk theme
from a Flemish poem of 1546, describing a land
abounding in food and drink. Pigs and geese run
about already roasted, pancakes and tarts grow
on rooftops, and fences are made of sausages. A
knight is below a hut waiting for food to drop
into his mouth; another knight, a peasant, and a
clerk sit around a table.
Our next example is the Peasant Wedding Feast
(c. 1567–1568). The bride wears a peasant crown,
and her parents sit near her. It’s possible that the groom is not pictured, or
he may be the boy with the red hat who takes dishes from the door plank
being carried past in the foreground—the groom was obliged to serve the
In 1560, Antwerp
was at the height
of prosperity,
with about 1,000
foreign merchants
in residence and
some 500 ships
entering the harbor
every day.