Gloomy Day (Early Spring)
1565 | Pieter Bruegel d. Ä.
The picture represents late winter or early spring with such seasonal activities as collecting wood and cutting willow switches. Carnival time is signified by the child with the paper crown, the lantern, the waffles and the masquerade with the pot crammed on the head and the broom stuck with candles, similar to how they appear in Bruegel’s “The Fight between Carnival and Lent” (Inv.-Nr. GG 1016). With the awakening of nature in the New Year (which at the time began on March 1st in the Netherlands) the picture is to be seen as the first in the whole cycle.
The picture represents late winter or early spring with such seasonal activities as collecting wood and cutting willow switches. Carnival time is signified by the child with the paper crown, the lantern, the waffles and the masquerade with the pot crammed on the head and the broom stuck with candles, similar to how they appear in Bruegel’s “The Fight between Carnival and Lent” (Inv.-Nr. GG 1016). With the awakening of nature in the New Year (which at the time began on March 1st in the Netherlands) the picture is to be seen as the first in the whole cycle.
Artist:
Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. (um 1525/30 Breugel oder Antwerpen? - 1569 Brüssel) DNB
Time:
1565
Object Name
Painting
Culture
Netherlandish
Material/technology:
oak wood
Dimensions:
118 cm × 163 cm
Signed
Indicated at the bottom right:
BRIGHT LEVEL M
CCCCC LXV
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 1837
Provenance
Nicolaas Jongelinck; 1594 gift of the city of Antwerp to Archduke Ernst; 1595 estate of Archduke Ernst; Rudolf II; Coll. Leopold Wilhelm