The Series of the Months (1565)
by Pieter BRUEGEL the Elder

A series of paintings of the Months was commissioned by Niclaes Jonghelinck, a wealthy Antwerp merchant who at the time of his death owned sixteen paintings by Bruegel. Of the series only five remain: The Hunters in the Snow (January), The Gloomy Day (February), Haymaking (July) The Corn Harvest (August) and The Return of the Herd (November). There has been much discussion as to whether the series was made up of twelve panels, as was usual, or of six, each of which would have represented the activities of two months. There is, however, little reason to doubt that Bruegel used the traditional scheme of twelve paintings. All five that survive belong to a well-established northern tradition of the representation of the months, which goes back to the calendar illustrations in medieval manuscript illuminations.

The paintings of the series were completed by February 1566; they were intended as part of a large-scale decorative scheme for the interior of the merchant's palatial house in Antwerp. As was usual in Flemish interiors of the time, Bruegel's landscape series was probably hung high up on the walls above the paneling, forming a continuous frieze around the room.

Bruegel occupies an important position in the history of landscape painting on account of his ability to convey to the observer the transformation of nature in the course of the seasons. This was no new subject. The religious texts in the illustrated prayer-books of the nobles in the late Middle Ages were often preceded by a calendar with a page for each month. These pages showed the course of the year, mainly by depicting the respective occupations carried out in the month in question. In Bruegel's art, it is always Nature itself which renders the season apparent: like the trees and animals, the people represent merely one part of the broad landscapes spread out before the observer.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
The Hunters in the Snow (January)
1565
Oil on panel, 117 x 162 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1200*834
True Color
177 Kb



The Hunters in the Snow (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

967*1200
True Color
190 Kb



The Hunters in the Snow (detail)
1565
Oil on panel, width of detail 31 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

850*1025
True Color
200 Kb



The Hunters in the Snow (detail)
1565
Oil on panel, width of detail 31 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

880*1062
True Color
180 Kb



Gloomy Day (February)
1565
Oil on panel, 118 x 163 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1200*862
True Color
191 Kb



Gloomy Day (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

800*1616
True Color
164 Kb



Gloomy Day (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1306*900
True Color
182 Kb



Gloomy Day (detail)
1565
Oil on panel, width of detail 40 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1291*600
True Color
163 Kb



Gloomy Day (detail)
1565
Oil on panel, width of detail 40 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1000*1213
True Color
201 Kb



Gloomy Day (detail)
1565
Oil on panel, width of detail 40 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

850*1029
True Color
190 Kb



Gloomy Day (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

750*1081
True Color
84 Kb



Haymaking (July)
1565
Oil on panel, 117 x 161 cm
Lobkowicz Collections, Lobkowicz Palace, Prague

1223*850
True Color
204 Kb



Haymaking (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Lobkowicz Collections, Lobkowicz Palace, Prague

864*1200
True Color
182 Kb



Haymaking (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Lobkowicz Collections, Lobkowicz Palace, Prague

713*1200
True Color
147 Kb



Haymaking (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Lobkowicz Collections, Lobkowicz Palace, Prague

900*1177
True Color
189 Kb



Haymaking (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Lobkowicz Collections, Lobkowicz Palace, Prague

1056*800
True Color
174 Kb



Haymaking (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Lobkowicz Collections, Lobkowicz Palace, Prague

800*1125
True Color
156 Kb



The Corn Harvest (August)
1565
Oil on wood, 118 x 161 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1283*900
True Color
238 Kb



The Corn Harvest (detail)
1565
Oil on wood
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1115*1000
True Color
179 Kb



The Corn Harvest (detail)
1565
Oil on wood, width of detail 20 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

850*1208
True Color
148 Kb



The Corn Harvest (detail)
1565
Oil on wood, width of detail 20 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

850*1201
True Color
159 Kb



The Corn Harvest (detail)
1565
Oil on wood
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

900*1043
True Color
172 Kb



The Return of the Herd (November)
1565
Oil on panel, 117 x 159 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1176*850
True Color
185 Kb



The Return of the Herd (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

900*1144
True Color
216 Kb



The Return of the Herd (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

900*1133
True Color
193 Kb



The Return of the Herd (detail)
1565
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

700*1220
True Color
188 Kb




Summary of works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Paintings
Landscapes | Children's games | Proverbs
Village life | Demons and devils | Tower of Babel
Series of Months | Religious themes | St John the Baptist
Peasant life | Large figures | Miscellaneous
Graphics