Summer (Aestas), from "The Seasons"

A distant but important touchstone for nineteenth- and twentieth-century interpreters of rustic subjects were the peasant scenes—of labor, leisure, and merriment—created by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the mid-sixteenth century. In this engraving based on one of his designs, figures cut, gather, and transport wheat, harvest fruits and vegetables, and form hay bales, all under the brilliant light of a summer sun. In the immediate foreground, a man sits and takes a long swig of water, his scythe and outstretched leg piercing the picture plane. Conceived as part of a series dedicated to the seasons of the year, the print presents workers attuned to the rhythms of nature and fulfilling their role in a bountiful harvest—an idealized vision that wealthy, urban art viewers would have found reassuring.