This nightmare illustrated by Pieter Bruegel during the mid-16th-century ( c.1562) is entitled The Triumph of Death. It portrays the evils of the Bubonic Plague as a record of history during the social chaos and terror of a plague as it devastated and took the lives of up to 60% of medieval Europe. The exaggeration of the piece creates a dark and terrifying reality for the era. As skeleton armies advance, murdering anything in their path; a representation can be noted considering the fact that efforts to restrain the plague were minimal. A section of the piece shows a starving dog devouring the face of a child. Perhaps this is inspired by The Miracle of the child attacked and rescued by Augustine Novello. (c. 1328) The uncaring hands of death touch upon all walks of life, young or old. Clearly the religious pieces of the time were not an important factor within the painting. Believers would hope that being religious would save them from a painful death. As Bruegel explains, this is not the case despite how pious one is. In an era where getting into heaven was unquestionable, Bruegel challenged and horrified the people and their belief system. Europe simply watched as each person was struck by the terrors and triumphs of an unforgiving death.
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ReplyDeleteEveryone that studies art history knows that artists have been documenting things and events ever since cave paintings times, and as time was passing by; they would eventually paint masterpieces with profound details such as “The Triumph of Death”.
ReplyDeleteI can say it’s an image that is painted not only metaphorically but also literally. The metaphor side can be seen by the army of skeletons killing and destroying everything on their path. On the other hand, the literally part it’s observed by how the starving dog is eating human flesh and the hundreds of bodies laying dead on the streets. As the description says ” this is an image of chaos and terror”
If I can build a connection between the painting and my self, I would say that I love this kind of imagery. I can definitely relate it to heavy/death metal music, and the imagery musicians use on their album covers. (If anyone knows these bands >> cannibal corpse or slayer… knows what I’m talking about)
Images like this one and images like the right hand side corner on “the last judgment on the arena chapel” by Giotto are images that offer evil illustration, and that some how catches my attention. All I can say is I love it! … Great job Pieter Bruegel and Giotto!
Josue Bustillo