Andrew Sudweeks Assignment 1

The piece I have selected for this assignment is “Bauernhochzeit” which an oil on oak panel
painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The paintings name translates to “Country Wedding” so
presumably the subject is a wedding, likely in the traditions of the Netherlands seeing as that is where
the artist came from. The painting is set in a building during the day. A table occupies most of the
center of the painting and rests at an angle going from the lower right side of the painting, where it is
closest to the viewer, to the upper left side. There are a multitude of people sitting at the table, most of
them on benches, wearing clothes made of various colors of cloth which has the look of being a thick
cloth. In the front most prominently visible to the viewer is two men carrying a door covered in what
appears to be bowls filled with what appears to be some kind of mash, via a couple of poles that pass
under the it. A man can be seen just behind them passing out bowls filled with the same substance.
Further back behind the door carriers, seated against the wall can be seen a woman dressed in black,
who not eating like most of the people seated at the table, with a red circlet on her head, this is
identified as the bride by the green cloth hung behind her and the two red crowns hanging above her
head one beneath the other and appearing to be made of paper. To the right of the bride are an elderly
man, identifiable as a notery, and woman are seated these appear to be the only two elderly people in
the painting. Immediately to the left of the door carriers there is a man who appears to be looking at
them and saying something. Further to left there are a couple of bag pipers one of which appears to be
looking towards the food with expression of interest on his face. The other bag piper has what is a very
long knife or a short sword hanging from his belt and appears to be looking more in the direction of the
bride and thus his face is not visible to the viewer. To the right of the door carriers a couple of men can
be seen one of which is a monk who is speaking to the other one who appears to seated on a large
round bucket and also has a sword on his belt. Next to these two men a dog can be seen poking its head
out form under the table. In the bottom right of the painting there is a man who is pouring drink,
presumably beer, from a large pot into smaller, easier to handle pots which can be seen placed in front
of some of the guests seated at the table. To the right of the man pouring drinks a child can be seen
eating from a bowl while sitting on the floor. Above the man pouring drinks the door leading to the
building can be seen with more guests entering. Through the door a blue sky can be seen, indicating
that it is currently day, and what appears to be part of a tree or hedge.
The piece shows linearity as there are very clear contrast lines denoting one object/person from
another. It does not, however, exhibit unity, instead leaning towards multiplicity as there is no real clear
main focal point of the painting. It appears to be more of a closed setting, while there is some people
who are not entirely contained in frame and there an ope doorway showing the distance the scene
depicted is predominantly contained within the frame of the painting. It also seems to more
prominently display aspects of relative clarity since there dos not appear to be a single focal but rather a
number of focal points which are either groups of people or singular faces. The tables and people are
set in such a way that blurs the lines between foreground and background as they recede into the
background in a way that better demonstrates the baroque trait of recession. From this brief analysis it
would seem that this painting better fits Wolfflin’s baroque style or classification of art, while
belonging to “Scenes of Everyday Life” genre since it portrays a simple, common, everyday country
wedding in the Netherlands during this time period.
Citations
1. The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien’s website:
http://www.khm.at/en/objectdb/detail/330/?pid=2597&back=576&offset=6&lv=listpackages-
5481
2. Google Arts & Culture:
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/peasant-wedding/hgGvote2WI8P3w