Gloomy Day (Early Spring)

1565, Artist: Pieter Bruegel d. Ä.

 

 

Gloomy Day (Early Spring)

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.

Location: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Saal X

Object data

Object Name

Painting

Culture

Netherlandish

Dated

1565

Artist

Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. (um 1525/30 Breugel oder Antwerpen? - 1569 Brüssel) - GND

Material

oak wood

Dimensions

118 cm × 163 cm

Signed

Indicated at the bottom right:
BRIGHT LEVEL M
CCCCC LXV

Image rights

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemäldegalerie

Inv. No.

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

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