Readings and limits in the analysis of paintings for the study of the Little Ice Age. "The Hunters in the Snow" by Pieter Bruegel, 1565: a case study

Isidoro, Pedro; Bastos, Rosário

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11599

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Authors

Isidoro, Pedro

Bastos, Rosário

Abstract(s)

The analysis of the representation of climate and extreme weather phenomena in pictorial sources does not result from a direct reading of the visual perception of the work. To distinguish what is a representation of reality and what is attributed to the author's artistic construction of free interpretation, a methodological analysis is required, which must cross several sources that allow the obtained results to be validated as much as possible. Moreover, the further one goes back in time, the less aware people were of the climate; thus, the representation of extreme weather phenomena depended on the collective perception that was made of them. The date of the work being analysed coincides with an extraordinarily severe winter, during a period that the scientific community designates as the Little Ice Age (LIA). This work by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1565-1569), is the forerunner of a style that would concur with the Dutch Golden Age, the Winter landscape, previously represented only sporadically. The works of this style can be studied regarding their connection with the most severe weather cycles or patterns, which together allow the assessment of the LIA climate norms. However, despite the climate having always been important for human communities, it must not be looked at as the only shaper of landscapes represented throughout history. Their analysis must also regard the social, political and cultural context, as well as the style patterns of each period. The readings that can be done to artworks of this style are conditioned not only by the climate deterioration of this period but also by the circumstances of extraordinary economic development and consolidation of the nation-state: a true social and economic revolution that created a feeling of euphoria, as opposed to the depression inherent to the LIA. This dichotomy was reflected not only in Bruegel's work but also in works of painters such as Hendrick Averkamp (1535-1634), Lucas van Valckenborch (1535-1597), among many others. Do the represented weather conditions match the reality at each moment? Can the landscapes and represented scenes be read in their limitations, as sources for the study of History? Do the repetitions of scenes and extras in various authors suggest a collective social pattern or a unity of style around elements of greater acceptance by the spectators? Do the limitations inherent to painting as a perceptual element, as an aesthetic experience that appeals to one's sensitive knowledge and affectivity, allow one to analyse it as a source for History? From the work "The Hunters in the Snow" by Pieter Bruegel, we will proceed to analyse the spaces, the traces and colour, and the balances of the painting. We will continue through the analysis of the scene and characters, the iconography, and the iconology present in the work. Purged of elements of aesthetic or subjective nature, we can read the work as a credible source for the study of the History of Climate.