Renaissance Art: The Hunters in the Snow

The following artwork is The Hunters in the Snow, a 1565 oil-on-wood painting, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder during the Northern Renaissance period. This Northern Renaissance artwork is only one of five extant works of this series, where each work originally depicted a different month of the year.

Influences and Style

Just like all the works of the Northern Renaissance, The Hunters in the Snow was also influenced by the Italian Renaissance's humanism; however, only to some extent as the Northern Renaissance's focus shifted away towards a different path. The Northern Renaissance's humanism was more focused on religion and Christianity, especially with the Reformation as a significant characteristic of this era. Furthermore, the Northern Renaissance gradually deviated from the Italian's classical antiquities, and began to focus heavily more on real observations, and accurately portraying the visuals of reality. When it comes to Bruegel's works, there are those that either depicts or doesn't depict any relation to the reformation occurring during the Northern Renaissance. Bruegel's works followed the influence of the North's approach to humanism, illustrating realistic scenes and structures, as well as focusing on the aspects of human life. Especially as most of his works tend to lean towards portraying the life scenes of peasants' life with details, often illustrating event occurrences throughout the seasons.

When it comes to Bruegel's approach with his art, it is very similar to the style of Hieronymous Bosch's, where he works subtly incorporates or fully devoid of any religious significance.; however, he does have some artworks that reference religious aspects, such as The Tower of Babel, which connects to biblical literature.

The Painting:

The Hunters in the Snow is a bird's eye view landscape illustration, depicting a realistic image of a scene during winter, and has such great detailing that it is possible to miss several subjects within the work. And although it does appear to capture a real-life moment, this specific landscape does not actually exist in northern Europe but rather is a combination of various images and characteristics of his surroundings.

The painting depicts several different scenes within one overall artwork. In the foreground, the largest figures we see is a group of exhausted hunters returning with their pack of dogs from a seemingly unsuccessful hunt. Back then, during the North Renaissance, hunting rights and special breed dogs were associated with aristocracy, meaning that we can assume that this group is wealthier in comparison to those in the middle ground. The rest of the painting consists of peasants, actively participating in various activities, such as ice skating, sitting beside a fire, and travelling on a carriage. It appears as if the people in the painting are forming a connection with the natural surrounding rather than controlling it, almost as if Bruegel was expressing his views of the society in which he lived.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoy this piece because of how much minute details the artist was able to incorporate into his work, capturing a realistic image of a life moment, and having the viewer appreciate the hidden figures in the distance of such a complex scene. If given the chance I would love to own a copy of The Hunters in the Snow.  It was an artwork that one of my close friends introduced to me a few years ago, and while there is some nostalgia connected to the painting, I genuinely like Pieter Bruegel the Elder's artistic style.

Works Cited:

Boffa, Dr. David, and Dr. David Boffa. “Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hunters in the Snow (Winter).” Smarthistory, smarthistory.org/pieter-bruegel-the-elder-hunters-in-the-snow-winter/.

“The Hunters in the Snow.” Bruegel, www.bruegel2018.at/en/the-hunters-in-the-snow/.

Wisse, Jacob. “Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Ca. 1525–1569).” Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/brue/hd_brue.htm.