Dulle Griet (Mad Meg) 1564

Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted Dulle Griet, or Mad Meg, with oil on panel. It's a world rendered with the textures of hell, and it makes me think about the world of labor and materials in the 16th century. Bruegel lays the paint in layers, building up the drama as if constructing a building. The thinness of the paint, the type of wood, and the grinding of the pigments would all have been part of his studio practice. His skill with rendering textures is really apparent in the fantastic details: metal armor, and a range of domestic items like pots, pans, and spoons, which would have been made by local artisans. Bruegel is showing us a world consumed by violence and greed. But I think it's also worth considering the quiet, painstaking labor that went into this painting. Bruegel, a master craftsman, reminds us that even hell is made by hand.