Bruegel the Elder, Pieter (c.1525-1569)
Hunters in the Snow (Winter / December-January)
1565
Oil on oak panel, 116.5 × 162 × 2.4 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
The group of hunters returns to the low–lying village, accompanied by an exhausted pack of dogs. Only a single fox hangs on one of the spears slung over the men’s shoulders. To the left preparations are afoot to singe a pig over an open fire. Delightful details such as skaters on frozen ponds have added to the picture’s enormous popularity. Yet it is not the sum total of details that make the picture important, rather its overall effect. In a manner both virtuosic and consistent, Bruegel evokes the impression of permanent cold in this first and most prominent winterlandscape of european painting. (KHM)