Census at Bethlehem 1566

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-1569) was a key figure in the Dutch Renaissance. He revolutionised genre painting, a type of art which focuses on everyday life rather than grand historical scenes or portraits. This painting, completed in oil on wood panel around 1566, combines Bruegel’s signature subject of a peasant scene with a village landscape. 🖼️ ‘Census at Bethlehem’ depicts a snowy Netherlandish landscape. The ruin in the background, visible at the right-hand corner of the panel, is based on an actual castle in Amsterdam! Bruegel has used an unexpected perspective for this painting; we view the scene from a distance, so that the figures appear miniscule. This creates a bustling composition, full of individual people going about their everyday tasks. The artist also used a vast panel for this work. Such a large scale was commonly associated with prestigious subjects such as history painting – here, Bruegel subverts expectations by placing importance on ordinary people. 🧑‍🌾 Do any details jump out at you? Take a look at the children engaged in snowball fights, or the pecking chickens in the foreground. You can almost hear the tumultuous sounds of this chaotic scene. 🐓 Unexpectedly, however, the artist has inserted a biblical narrative into this representation of sixteenth-century northern Europe. Can you spot the pregnant Virgin Mary riding a donkey? By placing biblical figures into this scene, Bruegel draws parallels between Bethlehem and his own society. ⛪️ The winter of 1564-1565 was known to have been significantly colder than usual in northern Europe. The snowy landscape would be instantly recognisable to Bruegel’s contemporary viewers. What do you think of the work? 👇💭 Editor: Lucy Jude Grantham