Monday, August 04, 2014

The Magpie On The Gallows


The Bruegel painting was referenced online because of the odd-perspective, almost MC Escher-ish, of the gallows.

It turns out that it's interesting in many ways.

3 comments:

  1. Looks like there's a stork in the picture too--I wonder if there's a proverb about that also. Lemme look...


    Holy cow.

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  2. Suggesting that yes, he did intend those meanings in Magpie

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  3. I love, love, love Breughel. Thank you for this post and the link. If you like pondering this painting, you would get a lot out of (I can't say ENJOY because it is brutal and gory) "The Mill and the Cross" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1324055/ which is a film about the painting of that Breughel painting, with all kinds of gruesome, bawdy and heartbreaking moments in it. I am the kind of wimp who runs out of the room terrified when the hero is being stalked by the killer in movies, so I eventually couldn't watch the whole thing. Couldn't bear what the Spaniards were doing to the Dutch but also its depiction of medieval cruelty generally.
    Months later, as I prowled thru the Prado, I had to muzzle myself as I heard schoolteachers prating to their well behaved adorable Spanish schoolchildren audience about the Spanish collections of Dutch masters. I wanted to growl about tyranny and theft and oppression. But I was a guest in their country so I said nothing and smiled benevolently at the sweet children (who were far better behaved than American children)

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