AP Art History: As Above, So Below By Rudy Rucker

Jack Nguyen
Ap Art History
20th, August 2015
AP Art History: As Above, So Below by Rudy Rucker In the extraordinary and fictional novel, As Above, So Below, Rudy Rucker exquisitely used the very little-known historical facts and paintings left behind by the renown painter, Peter Bruegel, to create a lasting depiction of this Flemish painter and his works of art. Peter Bruegel was a Flemish painter who existed during the 16th century of Europe, near the end of the Renaissance era. Bruegel was a successful painter in the subjects regarding his surrounding landscapes and peasant life styles, and had two sons. Despite the fact that these were the few and only known informations about Bruegel’s life, Rucker’s creativity as an author allowed him
to formulate a memorable portrayal of the life and paintings of Bruegel. In every chapter of As Above, So Below, Rucker incorporates one of Bruegel’s many renown paintings with an imaginative description that makes the work of art “visible” and memorable to the readers. For instance, in the first chapter of the novel, before Bruegel painted the scenic landscapes of the French-Italian Alps, Rucker described the scene as a “rain-kissed afternoon in May. Puffy little clouds were scattered across the watery blue sky, some hanging so close to the ground that Bruegel could almost touch them. A small river ran beside the road, lit just now by a patch of sun. Slanting gray streaks of rain caressed the green mountain” (Rucker 18). Due to the lack of sufficient historical facts, Rucker used Bruegel’s paintings as a foundation to create an imaginative tale that appealed visually to the readers instead. According to the concept of human nature, people either visualize things through a representation of some sort or through vivid details that are spoken or read. In this novel, Rucker is far more reliant on details rather than a pictorial image. For example, his elaborate descriptions such as “slanting gray streaks of rain caressed the green mountain,” allows people to effectively visualize a scenery where a light drizzling rain seems to be making contact with a green and vibrant mountain; not only does this description weave the pieces of art into the text, but also allows for a visible scenic description inside one’s mind.
Unlike many other writers, Rucker doesn’t use or rather is not dependent upon historical facts to portray a person’s art work from the past; instead, he observes the paintings of a specific person and portrays them fictionally to his readers.
However, this novel includes pictorial representations of the paintings in black and white, making it difficult for people to effectively visualize a descriptive attribute to the art work. Although the paintings may be in black and white, Rucker probably chose the vague themes in order to deliberately show his descriptive writing skills. As Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.” In this case, fools would be referring to people who stop progressing when they reach an obstruction, not people who are dull. Rucker wrote this novel knowing that there wasn’t much historical information about Peter Bruegel, yet he didn’t give up to find another topic to write about it. He disregarded the basic criteria that states if there’s little known information about a topic, then it’s most likely not going to work out, because he is not a fool that gives up easily. Rucker knew that he lack historical information about Bruegel, but he also knew that he didn’t lack the paintings that the renown artist left behind. Turning the impossible into possible, Rucker drew descriptive details from the paintings and used his intricate writing skills to depict Bruegel and his paintings
fictionally.
According to my opinion, Rucker’s writing strategy is a bizarre yet ingenious concept that pushes the boundaries of the traditional writing conventions that most people are used to. Rucker sees the concept of writing about Peter Bruegel as not an impossible feat, but a very much distinct one. Lacking historical information, Rucker proceeded on to draw out details from many paintings and in turn, used those details to portray the work of art and the artist’s life in a fictional form. Due to this, the quality of the novel, As Above, So Below, is beyond ordinary and portrays the imaginative side of 16th century art like no other.

Landscape of the Fall of Icarus by Peter Bruegel

According to the novel, Bruegel based this painting off of the renown Greek myth, Daedalus and Icarus.
Rucker, through the point of view of Bruegel, implied that the fate of Icarus (bottom right corner near the ship; people in general) was neither of significant nor importance in a world that was constantly changing and moving like 16th century Europe. As evidently seen through Europe’s political instabilities, such as executions, heresy, and inequality, Rucker’s vision of the 16th century wasn’t flawed compared to reality. In the novel, Rucker included many descriptions of the corrupt policies and punishments of the 16th century Europe, such as executions, exile, and gruesome hanging/burning punishments due to issues relating to religion, and such. During the 16th century, the Protestant challenged the Roman Catholic Church, and religious conflicts broke out, leading to punishments and flawed policies such as death sentences, hanging, etc. In such a time like this, a person’s life was and did not seem important to society. Due to this, Rucker’s vision of 16th century Europe according to Bruegel’s paintings was reasonably accurate compared to
reality.