Bruegel’s style of Humanism was rare to find as it didn't have the strong influence of the noble class. The harvest itself was commissioned for a merchant and many of his other works as well thus letting him focus less on displaying the nobles, as was done in the south.
The Harvesters was part of a six part series that went through the seasons of the land and its influence on the peasant folk. The Harvest “usually said to represent the months of July and August, revels in the drowsy heat of harvest time.”(The Met) holds within many small actions and details showing how busy and full of life the life of the countryside is during the time of harvest. It is within those small details that I find most of my enjoyment as there are more and more little things to discover as you take a closer look at the peace. Some of those include the vase in the bottom left that almost looks to be a bird poking its head out. The people skinny dipping in the pond above the lake. The small bird outlined in black at the center of the main tree. With many more small little things to find within the painting as well. I often find myself looking for those small details within painting as they often feel like the best connection to an artist as they are either telling their own little jokes or stories.
I also find so much symbolism within the work itself, which as someone who has had to find symbolism in works for school I enjoy it when there are so many options to choose from. If you are to take a look at how the grain is laid about on the ground I find it easy enough to think of them as graves of the people working the fields. Those graves which are being laid out by the people holding the scythes are a classic symbol for death. Or the woman in blue, a symbol tied to Marry simply with the color who is helping to feed those who have been working the field yet isn’t anything herself. These are some of the stronger symbols that can be found yet with the attention to many more lay hidden within the piece.
When it comes to the influence of Humanism within the piece I believe that the focus on the normal actions of the people within the piece shows it best. As humanism is the showing of man in there most casually, the way in which the people are oriented first shows the humanism influence. None on display are thrown about in an awkward fashion except the drunk who by his chiastic of being drunk brings an awkwardness. Choosing to have a person who holds a prominent position as head of the group facing away from the viewer is a strong choice. Simply having people facing away from the viewer simply feels uncommon when compared to other pieces of the time, as if to say the viewer is not of importance but the actions being taken by those in the painting are. The simplicity of those actions are of importance as well as there are none being shown to be above what a human actually is during the time of the harvest, a field worker with lots to do before them and a community working together in order to accomplish the task. Humanism being the exploration of what man is without consideration of god is shown not with the highlighted bodies as many have shown before but in the commonance of the experience stretched out below. Even with the highlight being the actions of the people Brugel still does a good job at displaying the human body through the clothing as shown through his work on the legs of the farmers. Though I believe and it is shown in his other works like The Haymaking his skill with the upper body and the heads did lack somewhat. This may more have been due to the price of the commission and the time or effort he dedicated to the piece; as we see with other pieces like The Peasants Wedding a much greater showing of his skill in that department.
As a final thought, while I would enjoy having a print of The Harvesters in my own home, I do not believe that it would fit with my current design. The piece itself would be better appreciated among other works of his collection in a smaller studio setting. The works work together well and the difference between his work and others who practice Humanism separates it enough to place it within its own collection. If it were placed with works of the southern renaissance it would not contrast enough for the statement to be strong enough for a collection and may in fact ostracize the piece within that style of collection.“Reformation Timeline.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., https://www.britannica.com/summary/Reformation-Timeline. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
“Pieter Bruegel the Elder.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Dec. 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder#/media/File:Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025
Netherlandish, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. “Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Harvesters.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 Jan. 1565, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435809.Accessed 17 Jan. 2025
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