winter landscapes

WINTER LANDSCAPES

WINTER LANDSCAPE WITH A BIRD TRAP

PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER

Painted in 1565.Oil on wood.35x65 cm

What part of the year does this painting remind you of?

CHRISTMAS!!!!

It is not particularly a Christmas scene, but it shows winter as we like to imagine it,

with plenty of snow and happy people.

What do you usually do at Christmas?

It may be cold but it’s really sunny too

What’s the weather like here, where we are living?

Does it usually snow in the winter?

There are very few colors

It is very difficult to paint an image with so few colors. For this reason,

the painting is also very homogeneous.

We can only see white, a little black and every shade in between of

brown, ochre and yellow, particularly towards the horizon.

What are the people doing?

They are having fun skating on the frozen river.

In the mid-sixteenth century, they didn’t have the sophisticated skates

we have now: they just attached wooden blades to their shoes.

It looks as though it worked quite well.

Look again and focus on the people

They are all doing something different

They are all different ages and each one has his or her own character.

Some are chatting while others are hurrying on their way.

One is balancing on one leg and there is a mother holding her child by the hand.

Some are in pairs and others are alone.

What would you do if you were one of them?

What are the wooden planks on the right of the picture for?

It’s a bird trap, which would be a common view for these country people.

You can see the village church

As the religious centre of the village, the church has an important role.

By including it in the painting, Bruegel evokes another dimension in the lives of the people that are in the picture. The church conveys the idea of unity between them, and perhaps

of refuge.

WHY IS BRUEGEL CALLED “THE ELDER”?

WAS HE VERY OLD?

This is often what people think, especially because he is sometimes

known as Old Bruegel. In fact Bruegel had a very short life. He

was only about forty when he died. But this nickname is to distinguish him

from his sons, who were also painters.

His elder son, Bruegel “the Younger”, was also called Pieter.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN

Choose an image of the season you like the most. It can be a photo, a picture, a drawing…

Describe the elements of the picture, the weather and the colors. Create a funny story that happens in the image you chose.

This presentation is based on the book

HOW TO TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT ART

Frances Lincoln Limited Publishers