Bruegel: The Triumph Of Death In Medieval Art

Art is like a book. It can be an autobiography, it can tell a story, it can be explaining history, and it can be anything beyond. Artwork can reflect the beliefs or the ideas of the artist, or perhaps relay the mood of the artist. Of course, the mood of the artist can be caused by the society in which the artist lives. Mood is apparent in artwork through the colors, objects, and ideas chosen to portray with the paintbrush, and an example of this is artwork painted during the black plague. The black plague was a disease spread around Europe, unknown to most. The disease spread like wildfire, and there was no known cure. The plague was absolutely devastating, “killing an estimated twenty-five million people.” (National Geographic). With these
In Bruegel “The Elder” Pieter’s work “The Triumph of Death” (The Triumph of Death) has very grim colors and designs, for in the piece of artwork, skeletons are shown all around the painting. To depict death, the artist used “large army of skeletons razing the Earth” (The Triumph of Death) as a symbol. These skeletons appear to be inflicting harm and death on every person in the picture, and it is brutal.This piece of work has come as a result of the black death. Despite being after the plague, the mood of death in medieval artwork still remained from the devastation. “The Triumph of Death” also had a pattern of fires and dark skies, in which both of these elements of the painting display that the society lacked hope, and felt that it was near the end of times. The domination of skeletons and the killing of humans shows that the society didn’t have any escape from the plague, and all of those bones and skulls are in memory of those that lost their lives to the plague. The medieval artwork displaying society’s visions of the black plague is a perfect example of how the mood of society certainly reflects the artwork made during that time in
To those that don’t have conviction in the power of art, it may seem impossible, as artwork is simply just a few strokes of paint on a canvas to that populous. To culture today, and throughout history, artwork is much more than just some colors on some paper created by some guy. Artwork has -and will continue to- topple governments, encourage consumers to buy a product, influence how a building is made, and even spark the flames in men and women that would like to take their part in the military. How can artwork topple governments? One word can explain it all- propaganda. Take, for example, the American Revolutionary war: the famous “Join, or Die” (Join or Die) by Benjamin Franklin is a key component to uniting the colonies to stand up to the oppressive British government. The decision to revolt was not unanimous between all of the colonies. Before this piece of propaganda was circulated around the colonists, “...not everyone favored the revolutionary movement,” (Medvedev). The “Join, or Die” illustration is what led to the colonies finally uniting, and forcing the British in America to collapse. Propaganda for war is still used in more modern scenarios as well. World War II was a colossal war in world history, therefore it is only natural the propaganda was used. In World War II, “...posters called upon every man, woman, and child to endure the personal