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The “Pieter Bruegel (Brueghel) the Elder” Table Lamp Collection Peasant Dance, 1568/69 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria)
Of the same size (114 * 164 cm, 45 * 65 inches) as the “Country wedding”, the Peasant Dance takes us into a moment of village celebration. These moments of relaxation must have been rare in the XVI Century. You can see the couple right in the foreground running to join the feast which is opened up by two couples with a traditional dance. In the background, a man is almost forcing her reluctant partner to come out in the open whilst a number of onlookers seem to be cheering on. On the left side a child is dancing with her sister (or mother) and high up a man seems to try to reach out to a passer by (or a friend) with such impetuosity that he hits in the face his probably drunk companion sitting to his right. This is Bruegel’s second large-figured painting and one that is powerfully entwined with Netherlandish village life flavour. It does not introduce, as many of Bruegel's masterpieces do, imaginary “paysages” or far-away landscapes and country settings. It is a direct representation of peasant life, XVI century clothing, colours and human joy and frailty. Note the unifying strength of the scenes that show Bruegel’s deep understanding of Italian renaissance compositional principles.
(C) Maioliche Originali Deruta (MOD) Autori: Manufacturing Quality for the Discerning Collector and Art Investor |
