Week 6 Protestant Reformation

As discussed during the lecture protestant reformation brought with it an ideal that no idol or image of the gods should be made. This caused the artist to turn to the everyday day lives of men and turning of the seasons to bring forth new portraits of daily life to the patron. We now see large scale paintings such as those created by Bruegel the Elder in his cycles of the Months for this blog let’s stick with "Return of The Hunters". Here there is no deliberate portrayal of God's person rather we are given the grand view of a snow covered landscape in which the humans are just actors in the scene. Here is God’s grandeur being harvested and consumed by men.

Instead of having iconic images of the bible displayed in churches and homes men began to fill their need for art with landscapes with men at work and play. In this painting we see the layout of a valley from the crest of a hill. We see hunters headed home with their bounty on their back with their faithful companions at hand. On the far left of the scene there are people tending to an outdoor fire where a pig is being prepared after being butchered and down in the valley there are children sledding the right hand lower corner. Our eyes are led by the row of trees down to the town and the lakes that have fishermen and skaters. The carriage is headed to the far side of town and from there we can see the road that if followed will led back into the wilderness. The birds in the sleeping trees, bright snow, and distance seem to say the road is long but the journey is worth it.

This painting also says a great deal about the gifts God has given without the iconic images that we have come to expect when Catholicism was the only religion. In that time period we would have seen images of the crucifixion, saints, the virgin, heaven, and the torments of hell. There are no angels. There is no hint that the worst is coming your way only a message that if you work hard you will be rewarded. The triumphant hunters seem to say we have persevered and have come away with the bounty due to us.

This is about the plight of man as well. It says if you live your life according to all that is right you will be blessed. Although this is winter it would seem from the animals and people involved in the landscape that this is a time of plenty. The stores have been laid in for the hard times and the harvesting that is done currently is for enjoyment and pleasure so long as we do not forget to be frugal the hard bite of winter can be overcome. We are seeing the lesson of moral behavior being connected with having all we need and being grateful for what we have. While leaving the idols and images of the goddesses/gods and saints behind.