Parable of the Sower 1557

Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted ‘Parable of the Sower’ with oil on panel sometime in the mid-16th century. The painting depicts a sower scattering seeds in a vast, panoramic landscape. Bruegel was working in a time of religious upheaval and social change. His art often reflects the lives of ordinary people and critiques of social injustice. The parable itself, drawn from the Gospels, speaks to the varying degrees of receptivity to spiritual teachings. Here, it could also be interpreted as a commentary on the distribution of resources and opportunities within society. Consider the sower's solitary figure against the backdrop of sprawling fields and distant towns; is this an illustration of the individual's role in a larger world? How does it speak to the relationship between labor, faith, and the environment? What does it mean to sow seeds, and what does it mean to hope for a harvest? Bruegel asks us to ponder the complex interplay between human actions and the forces of nature and society.