The Insects of Pieter Bruegel the Elder

M
entionofNetherlandish
artist Pieter Bruegel
the Elder (1525/301569) (Fig. 1) conjures up imag-
es of early Northern Renaissance
panel paintings that seem direct
imitations of the cosmographical
high-horizon
panel paintings,
populated with dozens offigures
doing strange acts, by fellow
countryman Hieronymus Bosch,
who died in 1515 (Kleiner and
Mamiya 2005).
Of the many
parallels, one could compare
Bosch's triptych, The Temptation
ofSt.Anthony (1500-1505), with
Bruegel's Triumph of Death (c.
1562). These phantasmagorical,
shifting images of fantasy are the
recognition
signature of both
artists (Cuttler 1969).
Beyond appreciation of aesthetics, examining the paintings,
drawings, and prints of Pieter
Bruegel the Elder is a novel but
surprisingly
direct visual way
to take a snapshot of the sociopolitical, cultural, and religious
ethos of the Netherlands during
the Antwerp and Brussels area
(Orenstein 2001). In a 1559
painting called by several titles
(Netherlandish Proverbs, or The
Blue Cloak, or The Topsy Tuny
World), at least 118 proverbs
are illustrated
(Hagen et al.
2007) from classical, Biblical, and folk sources (Sullivan
1991).
In 1966, art critic Harold
Rosenberg released a seminal
writing on contemporary
art
and viewers titled The Anxious
Object, in which he described
how contemporary art sought
to effect "change in actual values, though often under cover
of the old slogans." The symbolically detailed late Gothic/
early Renaissance imagery of
both Bosch and Bruegel may
have had a similar aim, acting
as commentary on the values of
the day through visual referenc-
es to widely known parables.
On several levels of viewing
discomfort, both artists created
Fig. 1. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, self portrait.
what might be called "anxious
landscapes."
In the paintings
the volatile spiritual climate of
of Bruegel the Elder, we find more removed religious trappings and
the 16th century. The detailed figures (including insects), architecgreater integration of genre (Le., images of people in everyday life)
ture, and artifacts, along with the thinly or heavily veiled symbolic
and the landscape (Cuttler 1968). A greater secularization of Brueimagery-mostly
associated with axioms or proverbs-have
yielded
gel's images, including classical as well as Biblical and folk parables, is
much information that helps us understand that troubled era in
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Gene Kritsky and Daniel Mader
credited for his association with humanist collectors (Sullivan 1991).
Especially of note is Nicolaes Jongelinck of Antwerp, who owned at
least 16 of Bruegel's paintings (Bonn, 2006).
At the beginning of the fifteenth century. early Netherlandish
art reaches a high standard of genre painting within the format
of popular medieval prayerful books of hours. Prayer books are
combined with contemporary genre images that follow a calendar
ing clear-sighted naturalistic representation of clothing, architecture,
and artifacts, including images of skep beehives (Orenstein 2001).
Not a great deal is known about the early years of Bruegel the
Elder, including his date and place of birth. Nevertheless, it is accepted that he was born-coincidently-near
Hertogenbosch, the
birthplace of Hieronymus Bosch. He was highly educated and enjoyed
the collection patronage of bankers, merchants, and scholars, but not
the church (Stokstad 1999).
It is known that he studied in Brussels with Pieter Coecke van
Aelst, who died in 1550. (Orenstein 2001). His earliest biographers
stated that he was a quiet, personable
individual who enjoyed
format. The Limbourg Brothers' Tres Riches Heures
example of such a work.
These calendar pages give glimpses into the daily lives of simple
peasant folk, along with the events of royal courts.
Bosch's (and later Bruegel's) early work builds on this tradition of
genre detail of the books of hours, also done in what has been called
the International Style of 1400. Bruegel's later work-especially
drawings and engravings-is
more naturalistic, close-up, and focused
(De Tolnay 1952), revealing science and technology and demonstratdu Due de Berry (1413) is a quintessential
Fig. 3. Pride, 1557.
"jokes, puns, and riddles" (Sybesma 1991). Following the death
of his teacher, he visited Italy via France from 1552 through 1553,
traveling through Rome and Bologna as far south as Sicily. Rather
than sketches of well-known monuments, he brought back many
direct sketches
of nature
that influenced his later works. These
later works focused on fewer and more
robust peasant figures involved with a
variety of day-to-day activities (De Tolnay
1953). Several of these pieces were made
into engravings.
From 1562 until his death in 1569,
Bruegel became increasingly busy, producing no less than 40 paintings and producing designs for prints, all for collectors
in Antwerp and Brussels. These works
continue the Netherlandish
tradition of
hidden symbolism, which at this time
referred to the reaction to the Inquisition
and to the 1567 arrival of the Spanish
Duke of Alva, who took the "sorrow and
bitterness" of the people to higher levels
(Orenstein 2001).
Bruegel's
connection
to insects is
revealed in several drawings, paintings,
and sketches that depict beehives and
references
to flies. Among these, in
Fig. 4. Netherlandish ProverbsjThe Blue C/oakjThe Topsy Turvy World, 1559.
246
chronological order, are The Ass at School
(engraving, 1556); Pride (ink on paper,
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and astrological
1557); Netherlandish Proverbs/The Blue Cloak/The Topsy Turvy
World (oil on panels, 1559); The Combat between Carnival and
Lent (oil on panel, 1559); Children's Games (oil on panel, 1560);
Hope (engraving of one ofthe seven virtues, 1561); The Fall of the
Magician (engraving, 1564); Spring (ink on paper, 1565); and the
Beekeepers (ink on paper, 1568). Although Bruegel's works are
filled with symbolism and meaning, we will focus on those symbols
that involve insects.
The Ass at School (Fig. 2) appeared as an engraving in 1557, but
the original drawing includes Bruegel's signature and the date 1556.
As with many of his other works, this drawing included symbolism
referring to Flemish proverbs. The translation of the text at the bottom of the drawing reads, "Though a donkey go to school in order to
learn, He'll be a donkey. not a horse, when he does return" (Hagen et
al. 2007). The entomological symbol appearing in this work is the
student who "celebrates" his learning by crawling into a beehive
(Klein 1963).
After Thomas, Canon of Cantimpre, used bees and their actions
to instruct the Catholic leaders of a monastery in his 13th-century
book Bonum universale de apibus (The Universal Good of Bees), the
Catholic Establishment was often linked to beehive imagery in the
Netherlands. The "king" bee was the abbot, and the workers represented the monks. At the time, it was not known that the queen and
her workers were female (Glick et al. 2005).
Two beehives appear in Pride (Fig. 3), an ink drawing filled with
bizarre images reminiscent of the strange paintings of Bosch. It was
the second of a series representing the seven deadly sins, which
Bruegel completed between 1556 and 1557 (Klein 1963). In the
drawing, one skep hive is perched on the boat-like form at the upper
Fig. 6. Children's Games, 1560. The child swatting at flies is near the
middle of the right margin and is shown as an insert in the upper left.
American Entomologist.
Volume 57, Number 4
Fig. 8. Detail of the battle between Carnival and Lent. Lent is wearing a
Flemish beehive used in the 16th century.
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Fig. 5. Detail of the
man trying to hit two
flies with a fly-swatter.
center of the image, while another (ringed with tiers resembling the
papal miter) rests on the back of a hedgehog-like creature. In both
cases, bees are issuing from the opening of the hive. The meaning is
obscure, but the resemblance to the papal miter and its association
with other characters depicting prideful self-admiration may represent the view that the Church and its clergy (the bees emanating
from the entrance) are not above the sin of pride.
Netherlandish
Proverbs/The
Blue Cloak/The
Topsy Turvy World
(Fig. 4) is one of Bruegel's most popular paintings, and it includes
many Flemish proverbs that are still in use today. For example, in
the foreground is a man hitting his head on a brick wall (trying to
do the impossible), and above that man is another who is literally
"armed to the teeth" and in the process of tying a bell on a cat-an
image that, in the Flemish vocabulary. refers to attempting a dangerous plan. In the open second-story window ofthe building in the
foreground, three figures gamble, and "the die is cast:' Entomology
enters the painting in the open window of the crenellated tower in
the background, where a man with a fly-swatter is taking aim at two
discussed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wikijNetherlandish_Proverbs.
Bruegel's paintings were not always laden with symbolism;
in some cases, they were simply a feature of the surroundings of
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scene of children and their toys primarily seems to portray mostly
harmless frolicking such as the scene on the far right edge of the
painting, which shows a child on a log swatting at flies.
These humorous and instructive paintings were quite popular
in Bruegel's time, and were collected by wealthy patrons. Rather
than serve merely as decoration or subjects of quiet appreciation,
these paintings were intended to provoke interaction and lively
discussions about the various images. The Combat between Carnival
and Lent (Fig. 7) is in the same vein as the previous painting in that
it is crowded with all sorts of metaphor-laden
imagery. but in this
case the subject is a commentary on the Reformation. The central
scene (Fig. 8) is a jousting match between the gluttonous Carnival
(representing
Protestants), and the emaciated Lent, representing
the Catholic church with the beehive being worn on her head. The
right side of the painting depicts a church surrounded by people
doing good works, whereas the left side shows an inn and gamblers.
This is also a critique of Lutherans, who had abolished Lent while
continuing to celebrate Carnival (Stridbeck 1956).
Hope (Fig. 9) also features the beehive as a symbol of the Catholic
church. In the center stands Hope, in turbulent waters, holding a
shovel in one hand and a scythe in the other and wearing a tall skep
hive on her head. Three fishing rods held by the figures behind her
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Fig. 9. Hope, 1561.
248
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flies (Fig. 5). This illustrates the Flemish proverb "Tweevliegen in een
parallel of which is to
"kill two birds with one stone:' More of the proverbs illustrated are
Klap" or "two flies in one swat;' the modern
everyday life. Children's Games (Fig. 6) illustrates all of the activities
of 16th-century children of which Bruegel was aware. This crowded
l!.. '
Fig, 11, Close up of the skep beehives in a shelter in Bruegels' Spring,
are so spaced as to give the beehive the appearance
of the papal miter,
The Latin caption alludes to hope as necessary when the world is
filled with "many, almost unbearable hardships:'
Among Bruegel's depictions of workaday life is Spring (Fig, 10),
which appeared as an engraving in 1570, It shows a formal garden
with manicured beds being tended by a staff of gardeners (Klein
1963), Behind the garden, workers shear sheep and livestock graze
within a fenced area, At the far end of the field, near the horizon, is
a bee shelter with seven domed skep hives inside (Fig, 11), These
While bees frequently symbolized the Church in the works of
Bruegel and his contemporaries, flies were associated with evil, The
allegorical engraving The Fall of the Magician (Fig, 13) is filled with a
busy crowd of grotesque creatures, The entomological symbolism is
obscure, but at the top of the engraving, two trumpeters blast forth
clouds of flies, suggesting the filth of the demonic music
Of all of Bruegel's insect imagery, the best known and most detailed is his illustration of The Beekeepers (Fig, 14), which provides a
great deal of visual information pertinent to the history of beekeeping
Fig, 12, An early 20th century postcard of a Dutch beekeeper and his bee shelter, Photograph in the G, Kritsky collection,
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skeps have a more rounded top than the skeps that are illustrated
in Bruegel's other works, and were used in central Europe until the
past century (Fig, 12),
Fig, 10, Spring, 1565,
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in the 16th-century Netherlands. The scene shows three beekeepers
wearing cowls with face protection in the form of a woven wicker
disk. This type of protection was common in other parts of 16thcentury central Europe (Kritsky 2010), and this style, albeit with
the wicker replaced by a screen, was even used in the 20th century
(Fig. 12). The hives depicted are tall, conical skeps that taper toward
a flat top. The straw "lid" that the third figure is grasping served as
a bottom for these hives, which rested on two boards placed on the
ground. The hives were placed in an apiary that was protected from
the elements by a simple lean-to bee shelter.
The date of the drawing is controversial. In the lower right-hand
corner is the date MDUcv. However; the right margin is cut, which
has been interpreted to mean that the date was not 1565, but rather
1566,1567, or 1568. The fanatical Council ofTroubles that formed
in 1567 had the authority to investigate anyone or anything that
might challenge Catholic teaching or the primacy of the Catholic
Church, and Bruegel, concerned that attention might be drawn to
his work, asked that his drawings be destroyed upon his death, lest
his surviving family be charged with heresy. Removing the right
margin of The Beekeepers may have provided added insurance, as
the date then read 1565, suggesting that it was drawn before 1567
250
(Sybesma 1991).
As we have seen with Bruegel's other works, symbolism often
played a major role, and it is safe to assume there is another meaning
to this drawing other than to simply depict the work ofkeeping bees.
There has been some debate regarding the beekeepers' activities:
some interpretations
suggest that they are not working the hives,
but rather stealing them or the honey. The caption on the lower left
reads, "Dije den nest Weet dije Weeten, dijen Raft dij heeten," which
translates to 'Who knows where the nest is has the knowledge, who
robs it has the nest." This may simply be an illustration of the value
of action over knowledge, but it also may be a coded reference to the
Church. Sybesma (1991) has suggested a more nuanced meaning of
the image that takes note of two other features in the drawing: the
boy in the tree looking toward the church in the distance, and the
disturbed hive that is lying on its side in the foreground. Sybesma
has postulated that Bruegel was reacting to the growing power of
the Inquisition, and she suggests that beekeepers attempting to
repair the beehives represent faithful Catholics trying to restore
the Catholic Church.
Six of the nine Bruegel works that include an entomological
reference focus on beehives and bees. While there is no evidence
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IDEM
Fig. 13. The Fall of the Magician, 1564.
that Bruegel
was a beekeeper;
and the skeps
that he included
the details
Bruegel's
of secondary
penchant
everyday
the primary
that painstaking
to fully appreciate
we may find entomological
of the beekeeping
for burying
detail means
are often required
clothing
in The Beekeepers document
had more than a casual knowledge
time.
of the protective
allusions
life (and the metaphysical
that he
practices
subject
examination
of his
in masses
and research
his work, but in the fine details,
that provide
world)
a window
of Pieter
into the
Bruegel's
day.
Literature Cited
Bonn, R. 1. 2006. Painting Life: The Art ofPieter Bruegel, the Elder. Chaucer
Press Books, New York.
Cuttler, C. D. 1968. Northern painting: from Pucelle to Bruegel-fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
Inc., New York.
Glick, T.F., S.J. Livesey, and F. Wallis. 2005. Medieval science, technology,
and medicine: an encyclopedia. Routledge, New York.
Hagen, R., R. Hagen, and P. Bruegel. 2007. Pieter Bruegel the Elder c.
1525-1569: Peasants, Fools and Demons. Taschen, Los Angeles.
Klein, H. A. 1963. Graphic worlds of Peter Bruegel the elder, reproducing
64 engravings and a woodcut after designs by Peter Bruegel, the elder.
Dover Publications, New York.
American Entomologist.
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Kleiner, F. S., Mimiya, C. J., eds. 2005. Gardner's art through the ages.
Thomson Wadsworth, New York.
Kritsky, G. 2010. The Quest for the Perfect Hive. Oxford University Press,
New York.
Orenstein,
N. M. 2001. Pieter Bruegel the elder: drawings and prints.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Rocquet, C.-H. 1991. Bruegel or the workshop of dreams. The University
of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Rosenberg, H. 1966. The anxious object. A Mentor Book, The New American
Library, New York.
Stridbeck, C.G. 1956. Combat between Carnival and Lent by Pieter Bruegel
the elder: an allegorical picture of the sixteenth century. Journal of the
Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 19 (1/2): 96-109.
Sullivan, M. 1991. Bruegel's proverbs: art and audience in the northern
Renaissance. Art Bulletin 73: 431-466.
Sybesma, J.1991. The reception of Bruegel's Beekeepers: a matter of choice.
Art Bulletin 73: 467-478.
De Tolnay, Charles. 1952. The drawings of Pieter Bruegel The elder: with
a critical catalogue. The Twin Editions, New York.
Gene Kritsky is a Professor and Chair of Biology at the College of Mount St.
Joseph and adjunct curator of entomology atthe Cincinnati Museum Center,
and Daniel Mader is a Professor of Art History at the College of Mount St.
Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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Fig. 14. The Beekeepers, 1568.