English
The Harvesters
This painting originally belonged to a six-part series depicting different times of year that was commissioned by an Antwerp merchant for his country house. This particular scene, usually said to represent the months of July and August, revels in the drowsy heat of harvesttime. Some figures labor in the fields, but others doze, eat, or even skinny-dip (in the far background). While clearly based on Bruegel’s firsthand observation of the cycles of country life, the painting maps realistic detail onto an impossible landscape: it shows a wide-ranging vista from a promontory that could never exist in the lowlands of Bruegel’s native Flanders.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Harvesters
- Artist: Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish, Breda (?) ca. 1525–1569 Brussels)
- Date: 1565
- Medium: Oil on wood
- Dimensions: Overall, including added strips at top, bottom, and right, 46 7/8 x 63 3/4 in. (119 x 162 cm); original painted surface 45 7/8 x 62 7/8 in. (116.5 x 159.5 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1919
- Object Number: 19.164
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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