The harvesters Pieter Brueghel The Elder (1525-1569)

Description of Peter Brueghel’s painting "The Haystack"

Peter Bruegel the Elder painted the famous painting "Haymaking" in 1565, which is included in the "Seasons" series. He is a great master of the pen who depicts nature and all that goes on around it in a very subtle and kindly way.

The subject is dedicated to the summer months: June and July, at a time when the haymaking begins and goes on. The picture is painted in a realistic style, it carries a sense of reality from what you see on the canvas. There is an incredible connection between man and nature, their communication is so close that they merge in a single harmony. To achieve life and unity with nature is very difficult, only great masters are able to convey all the feelings, emotions and actions of people.

The main characters are peasants, who are depicted in different variations: men mowing grass, women gathering it into sheaves, another brigade from the shade of a tree dining and resting. People bring a special meaning to the canvas, they are one with nature and at the same time on different poles. Look how harmoniously the peasants fit into the general background of the picture, even though they are all engaged in different activities.

In the foreground sleeps a tired man after his work shift. You can see that he is very tired, because he did not have time to take a comfortable position for sleep. The labor of the working people is in the foreground. The landscape and terrain are stunningly realistic, it seems as if we are there ourselves.

The artist uses warm colors to create the image of nature: yellow field, green grass, blue sky. The main colors in the composition Bruegel still gave people, he clearly conveys it through the peasant’s clothes. Nature awakens, peasants begin to work, it is not for nothing that these two parallels are drawn here. We viewers should think about the meaning of existence and our purpose in this world.

The picture is in the National Gallery in Prague, if you are in those places, be sure to see the painting in reality, you will get a lot of impressions.