Bruegel, Pieter Landscape with the Fall of Icarus c. 1558 Oil on canvas
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OPTIC. I find Walter Pauk’s theory quite useful when writing about an image.[1] The AP Art History Course also uses this Acronym as a successful approach to writing about visual art. I have adapted it here with further commentary and explanation in light of your specific goals.
Post your writing in the comment box with the following five categories. You will receive full credit (20 points) for one thousand words. (15 points) for 750 words. (10 points) for 500 words. (5 points) for 250 words. The point of this is pure description. What does your eye notice first? Then what? Think space, color, dimension, etc....
- Overview: Conduct an Overview of the visual or graphic. I recommend an extensive brainstorming process here.
- Parts: Key in on the Parts of the visual by noting any elements or details that seem important. The old cliché goes “a picture is worth a thousand words”, which translates to about three pages. I think this is a good rule of thumb, but by no means a fixed rule. Describe what you see. Where do your eyes go to first? Then what? Follow the natural progress of where your eyes go. Give as much detail as possible.
- Title: Explain the Title (if one is present) and its relation to the piece of art. Even an “untitled piece” may tell you about the artist’s aesthetic.
- Interrelationships: Use the title, or your theory, and the parts of the visual as your clues to detect and specify the Interrelationships in the graphic. In other words, this is where you develop your thesis about the image and connect ideas.
- Conclusion: Draw a Conclusion about the piece as a whole.
Period 5 post here. Period 5 post here. Period 5 post here.
Due on Tuesday October 9th.
28 comments:
In Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, there is a man, a man in a red shirt and gray frock standing on steps in front of a beautiful sunset scene. The frock has seven wrinkles visible to us. He has brown stockings and black shoes on. There may be a horse next to him but it’s hard to tell what kind of animal it is. If it is a horse, the horse is brown. It has a blanket or saddle across its back, and it is pulling a carriage of sorts. There are six or seven steps and he is walking down the first of them. He is walking down these stairs in a sideways fashion. His head is facing downward. His hair is brown, and you cannot see his face. There are thin trees. They have leaves and look totally brown but in different shades; darker for the bark and lighter for the leaves. There is a ship. It is brown with a yellowish sail and it is sailing on the water, or it is docked. It looks ready to sail into the sunset. There are similar boats in the distance but they are blurrier as is the whole background of the picture. I believe there are two small ones and a large ship as well in this distance from the main boat in the picture. Next to the main boat in the picture is a patch of land with blurred green and orange. There is some sort of castle or fort to the left of the picture. It has a black hole for an entrance. There are rocks in the water in front of it. There are two of them. There is another man almost parallel to the one larger one in the picture, but down below him. He has a bluish gray shirt and dark pants, stockings, and shoes. He has a stick in his hand and seems to be herding sheep. Most of the sheep are white. There are a great many sheep, too many to count. Right next to this man is a bush that is greenish brown. This secondary man is steps away from the water. The water is blue and green with a reflection of the sun in the center, which is a yellowish color. In the far right of the picture there seems to be a fat man leaning over the water with a red cap and a white outfit. In between him and the ship is what seems to be a pair of legs thrashing in the water. They are making white splashes in the water, and there seems to be splotches of white, as though of feathers falling down from the sky and into the water. There is a city in the distance to the left and a mountainous patch of beige rock next to it. To its right is a mountain far off in the distance and to the left of the sun, which is bright yellow and making a reflection in the water in front of it. The city has beige, white, pink, orange, and bluish tones. On the far right at the top is more mountains of white. They are shadowed. Near it a little to the left seems to be a sand dune perhaps, the same yellow as the sail almost. It has a spot of orange, perhaps a city? The sky is an array of shades of grey and blue and yellow. It is mostly yellow to signify that it is sunset. I would say that the main focus of the picture is the man in the center of the picture, as he seems to be the brightest and largest figure in it. His shirt is the only red in the picture and it attracts the eye. The legs in the picture are probably the last thing my eyes move to, as they are kind of downplayed to the bottom right of the picture.
This picture is titled The Landscape With the Fall of Icarus. I believe that the legs thrashing around in the water, with the floating white feathers drifting down, belong to Icarus, fallen from the sky and into the water. This is because the story of Icarus is him falling into the water and drowning because his manmade wings couldn’t stop from melting when Icarus got too close to the sun. The landscape is showing all that is happening from the poem by Ovid, and telling the story of Daedalus and Icarus, with the watching mortal men and the prison on that island near the cities. The island with the castle/fort is the prison of Icarus and Daedalus. The secondary man, looking into the sky, is most likely looking at Daedalus flying above in the sky. He is probably in amazement, believing Daedalus to be a god of sorts. The third man is looking into the water, watching in amazement as a supernatural, deity-like figure is meeting his demise by drowning in the ocean. Seeing as the man with the downturned face is the main focus of the picture, I think the picture is focusing on mortality as opposed to immortal gods. I feel that the man with the downturned face is signifying that most mortals turn away from the gods, and in this picture, might actually be ashamed to look up to such a deity. To make this assumption, we have to believe that, as in the poem, the men down below thought the men were gods whilst they flew above them and through the air. Maybe symbolism is applied to the three men; they are all representing the way we, as individuals, look at religion. The man in red is ashamed at his beliefs. The man in blue is amazed and not looking at faults, believing the deity to be perfect. The third man is amazed at the faults and is either going to make the choice of letting them change his opinion of gods' perfections, as the man in red does, or ignoring the faults, as did the man in blue. In conclusion, this is a piece of artwork that looks to mortal beliefs and choices concerning religion.
In Pieter Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus there is a lot of vibrant colors. The colors reflect the mood that the painter is trying to depict. In this case bright in the background and using dark colors for the foreground. When I first looked at this painting the first thing that caught my eye, actually two, were the man who is plowing the field in his bright red shirt and also the sun. In the painting there is a man who is on top of some cliff with his horse. He seems to be plowing the land. The man is very distinctive because of the color of his shirt. The painter does this to make the man stand out. To the left of the painting it seems dark. The path that the man is plowing goes down a long and very dark path. The sun is painted in this bright yellow color and is obviously meant to stand out because of its size. The size of the sun looks to be more important than anything else in the background. The sun itself is small but Bruegel portrays it big by making it shine brightly. The sky is dark and seems like rain weather except where the sun reflects. Blow the man in the red shirt in the cliff is another man. He seems to be herding sheep. Based on his posture he is depicted as looking tired and exhausted. Over to the corner of the painting to the right is a yet another man sitting on the edge of the cliff. It seems as if he is fishing. All three of these men are portrayed as hard working men. They seem to be peasants based on their attire. Over in the distance is a town but the painter chooses not to make it as visible as the three working men. The town is very blurry and not as detailed. It must not be of a greater importance. In the painting there are also big cliffs and boats in the water. There are big ships and small ships. Again Bruegel chooses to make the other boats seem blurry and not as significant as the one in the right. The ship on the right is very big and very detailed. It can’t be missed. The water itself is very pretty and bright but not in the corner on the right. Right on the corner where the big ship is located the water is very dark and not as blue and green. Maybe the cliff casts a shadow or the ship does but the water in that part of the painting is murky and dark. In this same corner you can see another man. He seems to be drowning in the water or maybe he fell in the water because he is painted with is feet out onto the water.
The title of this painting is significant to the Greek Mythology of Icarus. As we know from the short poem by Ovid we read in class, Icarus and his father Deadalus were imprisioned to an island by king Minos. They couldn’t escape by water so the only thing left to do was to fly. So both father and son built wings using wax so they can escape the island. As they flew away, Deadalus told Icarus not to fly to high or low and not to close to the sun. Icarus overcome with joy of flying then flies to close to the sun and falls to his death in to the ocean. The sun melted the wax that was holding his wings and he plunged in to the sea. Icarus didn’t listen to his father and ended up dying. This was his tragic flaw. Most myths have a lesson or moral behind it and this one certainly does. Ovid also mentioned the three men in the painting in the poem of Icarus. The poem said that the three men looked up to the sky as if in amazement as Icarus and Deadalus flew above them. The men believed that Icarus and Deadlus were gods. As in the poem and in the painting the men continue to do their work as a farmer or fisherman and don’t pay attention to Icarus falling to his death. The three men depict how humans are indifferent to Icarus’ death and the suffering of Deadalus. They continue their ordinary events of their lives like fishing and plowing paying no mind to the events that are occurring outside their frame of mind. Bruegel painted what he pictured the poem we read looked like. He uses a great detail in the men but depicts Icarus as a small being in the corner of the painting. Depicting Icarus like that means that he wasn’t as important as the focus that was depicted in the three men. Another aspect of the poem was that Icarus and Deadalus were disobeying the gods. By making themselves fly they were in a sense imitating the gods. The gods believed that they are the almighty powerful ones with special abilities. Icarus and Deadalus did not stick with what was in their nature was which is portrayed in the three peasants on the cliff. The two men weren’t supposed to go against the god’s orders and because Icarus didn’t follow orders he fell to his death. Icarus and Deadalus did not do what was the natural for them to do as human beings.
Overall this painting depicts natural things. Not just the men working but also Bruegel’s use of bright natural colors such as green, brown blue. The Colors that portray nature and things around it give the painting and the person whose looking at the painting life. The myth that is enticed in the painting gives it symbolism and depth. For example the sun, which symbolized the fall of Icarus or the three working men who symbolize mankind’s indifference to the events surrounding them. Bruegel does this by portraying the men continuing their work and paying no mind to the small figure in the painting that is evidently drowning and dying.
Landscape with the fall of Icarus
The painting Landscape with the fall of Icarus by Pieter Brueghel is extremely detailed and contains symbols which relate it to the poem, “The Story of Deadulus and Icarus” by Ovid. When first glancing at this painting there are multiple details to look at, but they are not overwhelming. They are details that the eye notices one by one and than slowly help one to see the overall picture. The sun, ocean and the laborers all symbolize a certain aspect represent in “The Story of Deadulus and Icarus”.
The first image that caught my eye in this painting is the man in the read shirt, who I believe is the ploughman. His bright red shirt caught my attention and also the movement of his feet. His right foot is elevated and it looks rather odd. Also, this man is looking directly down and no part of his face can be scene. The other worker, the shepherd, is leaning on his crook, while looking directly to the sky. And the last worker is on the bottom right of the painting and appears to be a fisherman sitting right by the ocean. All of these three laborers are similar in the fact that they are working with nature. Another similarity between them in the painting is that they all appear to be on the same side of the mountain or island. The fisherman is on the bottom of the island, the shepherd is in the middle, and finally the shepherd is on the highest point. One difference among the three is that the shepherd located in the middle is the only one looking into the sky. He is most likely looking to the sky in amazement as he sees Icarus fly by and is still in shock. Also, the fact that the three workers are placed on the island in this formation may also relate to the quotation that Deadulus states to his son before he takes flight. He says, “I warn you, Icarus, fly a middle course: Don’t go too low, or water will weigh the wings down; don’t go too high, or the sun’s fire will burn them, keep to the middle way…”(203-204). Brueghel may have placed the workers in this way on purpose, to reflect this important quotation about life. Deadulus’ quotation means that one must have a balance in life and realize their place on this Earth. The shepherd in this painting possibly represents “the middle course” and all of the workers represent people who devote their life and work to nature. Another minute detail that I noticed are the sheep surrounding the shepherd. There is one particular sheep right behind the shepherd who is dark and brown. He clearly stands out from the rest and this may symbolize something. Since darker colors are sometimes associated with tragedy this sheep may represent Icarus. He was eager to fly into the sun and could not wait and disobeyed the rules of the Gods. Another aspect of the island that the workers are on that I noticed is the colors Brueghel chose to paint it. The colors are rather neutral and dark and there is also shrubbery around the island. These colors separate this island and make it stand out because they are distinctly different from the colors of the ocean and the other parts of the painting. The other villages and islands in the distance are pearly white with a touch of pastel color. They seem to be apart of a dream world and possibly connected with the Greek Gods. In the poem there is a statement that Icarus makes while flying, he says, “They must be gods! They were over Samos, Juno’s sacred island, Delos and Paros toward the left, Lebinthus visible to the right…”(225-227). This quotation reveals that the islands do belong to specific Gods and that is why the colors in the painting are clearly different. The workers live normal average lives and are going about their business and the colors reflect their lives. On the other hand the soft and beautiful colors of the Gods’ islands represent their godliness and value to Greek society. The next image which caught my eye is the bright yellow sun that shinning on the ocean. The sun lights up the whole picture and gives it a peaceful feeling. The part of the ocean that the sun is shinning on is tainted with yellow and it is a beautiful teal color. But, on the other side of the ship, the water becomes dark and black. In the dark part of the ocean someone appears to be drowning. There are two legs kicking out of the water. Because the title of the poem is Landscape with the fall of Icarus, the person drowning is most likely Icarus falling into the ocean after the wax that held his wings together melted. Icarus went against the Gods and laws of nature by trying to fly. The sun is apart of nature and is connected to the Gods. When he went against them he no longer is allowed to be in warm sun and therefore drowns in a gloomy part of the ocean as a punishment from the Gods. Also, another thing about the image of the sun in this painting is that it seems to be lighting the workers and the island they are standing on. It seems that the sun is what is motivating them to live their lives. The color of the sun is spread almost all the way across the sky and possibly may be the light from a God or Goddess. In the poem landscape with the fall of Icarus the reason that Icarus dies is because the sun melts his wings. He kept flying higher and higher and it may have been because he was attracted to the light and than it brought him tragedy and death. That is ironic that something as beautiful as the sun brought this young boy tragedy. This is perhaps the reason why the sun is a huge part of this painting.
Overall this painting is interesting to look at and makes one think about multiple ways of interpreting the images and what they represent. Overall the sun, ocean, and laborers are three important images of the painting. The workers represent the people of this society who know where they stand in society and don’t go against the Gods like Icarus does. The fact that the ocean is blocking the island of Crete from other islands may represent that the ocean is a way of blocking the normal everyday people from the Gods located on the other islands. Finally, the sun creates light and purpose for all of the workers to do their job, but it also is the reason for Icarus’ downfall. All of these images in this painting connect with “The Story of Deadulus and Icarus”. This painting is nice to look at after reading the poem because it makes the reader realize many different things about the poem and what it means.
In Bruegel Pieter’s painting “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” there stands a man herding a farm animal, which seems to be an ox but it could be just another domestic farm animal used for plowing the land. The cattle is carrying a wooden plow, on the front of the plow is a wheel to help move the device behind it to make slits in the earth’s surface and on the other end of it is the farmer. The cattle master, also the farmer, is gripping his whip and forcing his commands on the cattle shaping the earth into his own little Zen sand garden. The sand that is being displaced is creating waves curving to land of the earth. These waves form steps almost as those for walking up and down leading to somewhere, someplace as if these people had something to do. The one making all these waves is the farmer of that land. He is wearing simple clothing signifying he is of lower class status. His outfit consists of a red undershirt and a gray over coat forming a dress at the bottom.
On the yellow sanded beach below the farmer is a tired man herding sheep. The way he uses his walking stick and leans on it shows that he’s getting fatigued waking the sheep. His body language suggests that he is somewhat bored of his daily routines but the sheep must be fed. It’s the way he tilts his head upwards towards the sky as if he is dreaming of being someplace else, a place far from what he is doing. As the daydreamer is daydreaming his sheep are walking around looking for shrubbery to eat and his sheep dog is obediently sitting next to his master on his left side. On the right of the daydreamer is another man who is couching down to fish out something from the sea. The fisherman pays no attention to the man waving out for help and the helpless man is left to his own abilities to survive and try to escape his watery grave. This man is Icarus, since from the Greek myth the story is about his drowning and he is the only one showed drowning in the painting. The spectators watching Icarus defy the Gods are also illustrated in this painting as the farmer, herder, and fisherman.
While across the coastline there is a bustling city port in the distance as ships are being carried by the wind to that very location. It’s sails gulps breaths of new air that their fortunate to get so that their ships may reach the dock and the sailors anticipation can finally be relieved by whatever is waiting for them their whether it’s a new opportunity, lover, or family. It’s those joys that they seek in order to relieve themselves of the pains they have so endured out in the sea.
The water is calm and not even the ripples on the coast can disturb the greater body of ocean or the ships afloat of this great mass of ocean. The ripples on the coast doesn’t even last long enough to call itself life since as soon as it reaches the shore it bubbles and then quickly dissipates to only returns back to it’s ultimate creator; the wind which gives it it’s force and the water which gives the wind it’s chance to create. Such truth can be held for the humankind, there needs to me a woman to house the creation of a child while the male seed is the wind which creates the motion for the egg. Yet the human life span is just as short as a wave in the vast oceans, there is just too much to do and so little time to do it. This ocean shared by the people of the land is made up of shades of blues and greens and each color bleeds nicely into one another; the blues turns to turquoise to greens to aquamarine.
The ocean water is reflecting the warmth of the yellows and oranges of the glowing sun. In the horizon is the half sun radiating it’s magnificence into the skylight making the blues scurrying away to be replaced with the sun’s rays. It’s penetrating light shines through the clouds and shines on to the land. It’s as if the ray’s that’s being spread outward into the sky is the spirit of the sun. The sun is small in the distance but it’s the spirit that we see, humans can feel it as the warmth that lies on their faces. It’s spirit is just so strong that we can’t be too close to it or else we can get hurt and get a sunburn.
Not to far off the coastline lays a prison surrounded by water and cut off from human contact. Yet this whole world within this painting is surrounded by mountains and everyone just seems trapped. The city is protected by the Earth’s natural barrier keeping away intruders and the only mean of entering the city is through ship. Referring back to the prison, it is constructed of rocks since the shading of it only suggest so. Those prisoners dwelling inside of this building has the opportunity to escape for a moment of solitude as the prison cell has a yard right out back.
This artwork expresses the pains of human existence. It shows how people are so wrapped up in their lives that they pay no attention to what’s going on outside of their own lives. Such is true when the people of this painting are oblivious to the drowning man in the ocean waving for help. Another point of why the coastal people don’t help the drowning man is because the people are exposed to suffering so much in their lives that they just pay no attention to it anymore. It is their daily routines that they suffer from and they know that it must be done in order to survive for their own sake.
(I wonder if Mr. G is reading this…)
In the landscape painting titled Landscape with the Fall of Icarus c. painted by Pieter Bruegel in 1558, the painted uses Oil paint on canvas to create a vibrant piece of art of the events of while Icarus plummets to his death. Bruegel uses warm tones to create a serene warm feeling to a seemingly normal day. The painting includes and connects to characters in the poem called “The Story of Deadulus and Icarus” by Ovid, in which he features the ploughman, the Shepard, and the fisherman. In the landscape, it is a seemingly normal day. A number of men are working, including plowing, tending to the sheep, a fisherman, and a number of ships are seen in the harbor heading out to sea, or docked at their ports. The sun is visible high in the sky, casting a vibrant glow about the water, perhaps indicating it is morning, since labor usually starts in the morning, and since the sun is not too high, it may not be too late in the day. Some of the images featured in this piece are disproportional to other objects. For instance, the distance and size of the closest man compared to the donkey, and of course, Icarus himself, who seems close to the ship, yet he is larger than the crew. In 1558, it was common to have disproportional images in paintings. The most prominent feature to the art work however, is Icarus, whose legs are protruding out of the water. One can conclude that he had just fallen to his watery grave. However, the overall feel of the painting is serene. There is no distress among the men besides Icarus’ legs flailing out of the water. The men do not even notice this factor. The painting is called Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. I find this interesting because one’s eyes do not go directly to Icarus drowning in the water. The objects that are noticed first is the man plowing and the other men working. It actually takes awhile to even notice Icarus, some may not even notice him at all. As a matter of fact, Icarus was the last image I noticed about the painting. I can see why the title is Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. Its as if Icarus is not the most important piece of work. The picture would be perfectly fine without the young boy drowning. The painting is more focused on the landscape of where Icarus fell, and not Icarus himself. In Greek mythology, there is a god that explains the reasoning for everything natural, such as the god of the sea, the goddess of love, the god of the sun, etcetera. The fact that Icarus defies the gods by flying and trying to reach the sun as if to be as high and powerful as they can be interpreted on why Icarus is the least prominent image in the painting. The man plowing is tending the earth, there is a god in the earth. The Shepard is tending to his sheep, and there is a god of livestock. The man fishing for food, and there is a god of the sea. The painter reflects the importance of the gods, rather than Icarus who tries to defy them. The sun is vibrant, creating a glow about the ocean, may symbolize the power of the gods, and how they triumph over man. Particularly, the god of the sun is most important to the piece because the sun is what melted the wax that held Icarus’ wings together, which ultimately leads to his downfall. Another observation about the painting is that the natural objects and images such as the sun, the ocean, and the sky have a more vibrant color than the man made structures, and the men themselves. This is another symbol of the god’s power of men, and particularly over Icarus who hade tried to defy them. The most obscured image is also the darkest part of the water, symbolizing the death of Icarus. This may also symbolize his decent into the underworld, where Hades, the god of the underworld, resides. The Greeks believed that the underworld was the only place for humans to go because of the fact that humans were not equal to gods nor should they reside in Olympus, the “heaven” of Greek mythology.
In conclusion, the painter shows that in Landscape with Fall of Icarus, Icarus is not the most important image in the painting. The most important images are in fact the “gods” or the natural aspects of the landscape, such as the ocean, the sun, the sky, and the trees around. Bruegel portrays the god’s importance using vibrant, warm tones for the natural aspects of the painting. The men are working, which is what humans should be doing to appease the gods, rather than trying to defy them like Icarus who ultimately pays for his actions. The painting displays the god’s great power, and that it a “lesson” to those who desire to defy the gods.
In the painting “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel there are many colors and details that stick out. Colors seem to vary throughout the painting. In the far end of the picture there seems to be more bright colors than dark colors and in the area of the painting that is closer there seems to be darker colors than bright colors. Also, I noticed that there are a lot of things going on at the same time. There are four people in the painting doing different things in different areas of the painting. There are also a lot of different land masses.
The first thing that catches my eye is the man plowing. He is the farmer that is working on the land around him. He is wearing a bright red under shirt and another grey piece of clothing over the red under shirt. From his clothing it seems he is part of a lower class. He is plowing with what seems to be an ox that is connected to a wooden plow. He seems to be very concentrated on his work. He is working very hard on the land around him. He is looking down at the ox, paying attention to what is going on so no mistakes are made. The man is also holding a whip which he seems to be using on the ox to keep control of it. They both seem to be working together to create a garden of sorts. It seems to be very detailed and wavy looking. Behind the man who is plowing, there seems to be a sheep herder. He seems to be working and resting at the same time. He looks tired and it seems as if he is using the long stick in his hand to help him stand up. What seems to be weighing him down is the big bag on his back. He is standing next to his dog which he would use to round up the sheep that are all around him once he feels it is time to get them together again. Both the man and the dog seem to be looking up at the sky, concentrating on something else other than their work. The sheep pay no attention to both of them and continue walking around and eating. All the sheep are white except for two of them which are grey and stand out when they are around the white sheep. To the right of the sheep herder there is a man sitting down on the edge of the land before the water. He seems to be leaning over, looking for something. He may be fishing but it seems as if he is just sitting there, passing time by the dark greenish blue water. He seems to be looking at the man who seems to be waling his feet in the air. He seems to have just fallen into the water. Nobody seems to be paying attention to the man in the water who needs help. Even though his man needs help everything else seems to be going with the natural flow of things. The ships in the water are going to the direction of the city. In between the city and the land that all the men are on there is a small island that is isolated from everything. It looks very small but it also looks as if it is somebody’s home. In the far end of the picture the sun seems to be rising but it is already shining bright. It is illuminating the land around it.
The title of this painting is “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.” The man who is kicking his feet in the water is Icarus who has just plunged to his death after flying too high in the air with the wings his father Daedalus has made. This is in the picture because in the story, “The story of Daedalus and Icarus,” Daedalus and Icarus are on an island, away from other people, as punishment. Daedalus has had enough of being a prisoner of the island so he creates wings that are meant to fly both of them off the island and away from their prison. After Daedalus has created the wings, he warns Icarus not to fly to low or he will fall into the water or too high or the sun will melt his wings and he will fall and crash. Icarus does not seem to listen to his dad and flies high in the air. The sun melts his wings and he falls to his death. In the painting, this is what seems to be going on. Icarus has just flown off the island and is now crashing into the water below him. The island that he comes from is also in the painting. The island is the one in between the land masses that contains the three men and the city. The men who are standing around working or sitting around are the three men in the story who look up at Icarus while he is in the air and believe that he is a god of sorts. The title of the painting directly connects with the actual story. What happens in the story seems to be happening on the picture as well.
Overall, the painting and the story go together as a whole. They both explain the lessons learned in the story. One must have a balance in life or else they will be lead to their fall. Icarus did not keep his balance to her fell to his death. In his case it was literal. The sun is usually a good and helpful element to life. In the painting it is there to help everybody work and get things done. It is there to shine light on their hard work. But it is also there to play another role. It is what causes Icarus’ downfall. The sun which is always seen as a good thing now has created trouble. That is what has made the sun ironic.
In Pieter Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, the painting consists of bright and vibrant colors. The colors are a type of warm tone that people can see, attract to and feel. The oil painting with such colors is able to create a normal and serene day. It looks so real that people can sense it. The colors mix together gives the picture a realistic view of the exact setting. The strokes of the brush paint the colors smoothly together. It does not consist of any solid bold lines to create the detail and the painting. It does not give of random lines or create a halo on every object in the painting. It smoothly melted into each other and filled it with detail. Different shades add more depth and used to make the details and to separate part of the painting to tell what kind of landform it is. The objects close to the perspective of the painting consist of more details and the ones farther off have least details. The land forms farther of might look like a blur, but Bruegel also added different shades in it to tell what landform it is but not as much as the ones close from the perspective of the painting . The landscape looks truly like a real place from a distance. The painting tells the downfall of Icarus. The painting also involves and relates with “The Story of Daedalus and Icarus”, an epic poem written by Ovid. In the painting, it show the three people which work as a fisherman, shepherd, and ploughman, which were the same spectators that was watching Icarus and Daedalus as they fly into the sky. The ploughman was wearing bright color clothes of red, light blue, brown, and white. The fisherman was wearing white and a red head garment. The shepherd is wearing a blue shirt and brown pants. In the poem, the ploughman was working with ploughshare similar to the painting. In the painting, the shepherd is weighing down on the cane and looking up similar to the one in the poem. The fisherman is fishing with rod dips that they hold over the water similar to the poem. The scenery shows all three of these people looks like a merge between three different places. The ploughman works his field at the bottom left corner. His field reaches a far distance and disappears in to the forest. The ploughman’s field appears to be on a cliff overhanging the areas the shepherd and fisherman are working. The shepherd looks like it is on a different island than the fisherman. It looks like three different locations together merged into one landform to get the same view as Ovid’s poem. Close by to the merged sceneries, the other land of castles, cities and mountains can be seen. It looks like the view of the lands in a far place, yet it looks so close as if the merged scenery in the lower left corner is connected to the other landform that consist of mountains and a city. It looks like the islands are not vastly apart. The perspective of the painting is looking diagonally to the top right corner. Close to the place where the fisherman fishing, there appears to be two legs sticking out of the water. Those legs must be the legs of Icarus because the painting is about the fall of Icarus. Close to the legs are little thin objects floating around about to land on the water surface. The thin object also lay floating on the water surface. Those thin like objects are the feathers from Icarus’s wing. Since the feathers are scatter, it seems that Icarus ignored his father, Daedalus, in the story and fly to high to the sun. The feathers melted off the wax and the frame and he fell toward his own demise. Icarus’s downfall meant to happen because he ignored the balance, which his father tries to teach. In the painting, Daedalus does not appear in the scenery at all. The scenery mostly occupied by nature, the three spectators, and Icarus. The surroundings of the four human beings are all nature. The forest, mountain, the sea, the sky, and the sun are all nature. In Greek culture and mythology, the Greeks believed that nature are actually the forms of gods that human can see. Greeks believed that natural occurrence is the actions of the gods, sometimes to punish them or sometimes to award them. The Greeks live depending on nature to supply them with food. They believe that gods are not humans but beings with mighty power and should be respected and worshipped. The three spectators of Icarus’s fall all were trying to obtain food in nature, so they depend on the gods. Icarus is flying in the sky, which only the gods can do and creatures with wing. It makes the statement that Icarus is not depending on the gods, but he is a god himself and does not need the god. The painting shows that Icarus, who was using his father’s creation, is defying both gods and scientific terms of gravity. Icarus’s demise might have been the punishment of gods for flying in the sky defying their powers. The punishment shown in the picture is that the gods hate those who defy them and oppose their rules. It proves that human themselves can only live to walk on earth and sail in the sea, but cannot fly the sky. Humans were meant to be born, die, and travel into the underworld, the domain of Hades, the god of the dead. Humans cannot live in the sky. They cannot be gods. They cannot live on Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. It is meant to show that gods and human are in different levels in life. Humans are supposed to be inferior being to the god and the gods determine their destinies. The painting shows the god’s punishment toward Icarus for defying them.
Pieter Bruegel’s painting, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, depicts a plethora of varying objects, colors, scenery, and events. Multiple things occur in the painting at the same time. There exists a contrast of colors throughout the painting, with the forests/trees to the left of the painting being dark, along with the foreground, and in the distance towards the sun the colors grow more vibrant and bright.
The first thing that catches my attention is what looks like a farmer or peasant, perhaps a soldier with some sort of whip in his hand, tending his horse. It catches my attention probably since it is the near the dead center of the painting, which artists usually paint objects there to attract attention. The peasant seems to be lost in his own affairs, and looks down towards his horse. On the other hand, not too far from him, lies a shepherd of some sort. He holds a walking stick, and seems to be tending to his flock of sheep. There are a lot of sheep near the shepherd. Of them, only two are grayish/blackish, darker than the rest. The shepherd’s focus, attention, and gaze are upwards, towards the sky. It appears as if he is looking at some birds, flying in the sky. Towards the right of the painting, there is a large boat that sticks out. Directly under where the boat is, seems to be the thrashing of a pair of legs, maybe indicating that someone is drowning. Inferred from the title of Bruegel’s painting, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, the drowning, or already drowned body is probably Icarus. Near Icarus, is a fellow whose hands are in the water. This is probably Icarus’s father, Daedalus, trying to save and fish his son out of the water. In the background, there lie more ships, faded, however, and a city to the left of the ships. While the foreground has dark shrubbery and land, there lays bright, white glaciers, mountains, and a city that glisten in the sun. Many objects are reflected in the water, and the sun shines brightly in the horizon. However, surrounding the sun, are dark masses of clouds and perhaps the approaching night. Somewhere in the middle left of the painting there lies a small, rock mass with an opening in it.
The colors in the painting seem to be split down an imaginary line. They seem to be symmetrical in a sense, balanced, almost. While objects in the foreground tend to be darker, objects in the distance are bright. This imaginary, diagonal line creates a contrast between light and dark that is almost equal. This intentional balance of colors probably represents the words Daedalus said to Icarus in the poem. They were something along the lines of, “Be careful Icarus, don’t go too high, don’t fly too low, fly a path in the middle between the sun and the water”. Daedalus stresses to his son that he should take the most balanced, middle path possible, and Bruegel reflects this idea in his painting.
Throughout Bruegel’s painting, the landscape is very noticeable. However, Icarus’s death with his father nearby is much less noticeable than the rest of the objects in the painting. Compared to the size of the farmer and the peasant, even the horse, Icarus and his father are very small. Icarus’s whole body is not even shown, only his legs. Bruegel also paints the water surrounding Icarus with a very dark shade, probably because the death of person happens around it.
Bruegel’s painting goes extremely into depth and detail regarding the story of Icarus. He seems to portray a lot of his insights and views about Daedalus, and his son, Icarus. One apparent, although not obviously noticeable representation of Daedalus and Icarus, is the two black sheep. The two black sheep symbolize Daedalus and Icarus, where they are the only two sheep, or humans, different from the rest of their kind. Bruegel skillfully demonstrates his views on how Daedalus and Icarus differ from the world, perhaps in a positive or negative way, neither is known. Another critique of Daedalus is his effort in helping his son. He does not seem to be trying hard at all. In my opinion, he just lazily puts his hands into the water. What is even more shocking and surprising is the effort of the two people that are near Daedalus and Icarus. They do not seem to pay attention at all, and seem most absorbed in their own affairs and such. Perhaps they are selfish and non-helpful people.
The other objects in the painting seem to relate to the landscape part of the title rather than the story of Icarus part. Bruegel seems to put random, unimportant objects in the background that do not relate to Daedalus or Icarus at all. On the contrary, one object does relate to the latter of the story of Icarus, and this is the temple in the far distant, faded background. Not much detail of the temple can be seen, rather, just its silhouette. The temple probably refers to the one that Daedalus throws his nephew off of, claiming it to be an accident. The way that the painting is painted, maybe indicates that what is currently happen in the painting is the exact moment when Icarus begins to drown, with the distant objects in the painting, maybe referring to what happens later towards the end of the story.
Overall, the painting tends to serve its purpose of portraying a landscape with Icarus’s fall. Through Bruegel’s unique style of contrasting colors, foreground and background focus, and depiction of the story of Icarus, Bruegel portrays the main focus of his opinions. The painting masterfully outlines the events that happen in the story of Icarus, including the important morals and lessons the story preaches. The painting supports the ideas of living life ideally, respecting elders, being cautious, etc. This is obvious through the contrasting colors which balance light with dark, the sun with the shadows, in which humans must learn to live a balanced life.
In Breugel’s painting “Landscape With the fall of Icarus” by looking at the title the viewers can note that the painting is directly related to Ovid’s poem “Daedalus and Icarus” which is based on the myth. Similarities between the poem and the painting would be the people present in both such as the plowman, the fisher and the shepard. Breugel recreates the scenery of the myth in his painting. The painting is of the setting that Icarus’s downfall actually occurred most likely in Minos. The color of the painting gives off a calm feeling. The people in the poem seem to be going on their normal work days. It seems as if the sun is starting to come up because it is just above the water a little bit and the brightness of the sun is shown high into the sky. The painting has landscapes in the foreground and background such as the pathway and mountains. There is also the vast body of water towards the middle of the painting.
The first thing that catches the eye is the brightness of the sun. The bright yellow catches the eye first because it is the brightest color in the painting so the eye is drawn to it first. The sun gives a warm feeling and how the sun shines over the water and illuminates part of the painting gives off the feeling that a day just begun. Below the sky are normal people. There is the plowman which is the second thing that my eye is drawn to because he is closest to the viewer in the painting. He is wearing a red and green shirt with some brown pants. He is plowing the land which is brown with some green grass. He is pushing a plow with the aid of his horse. He appears tired because of his posture and the way his head is down. The plow man is headed down a field or path but it is headed toward some trees and a darker portion of the painting. Another person that is in the picture is the Shepard. He is on a lower level than of the plowman. He is wearing blue and brown and is holding a staff and his is looking upwards. There is a dog beside him that probably helps him heard his sheep. There are also many sheep surrounding the Shepard grazing the land. There are probably a little over a dozen sheep and some are white and grey. I am not quite even sure if the grey sheep are even sheep. Maybe the grey animals are more watchdogs that help out the Shepard. There is also a fisherman in grey who is crouched down in the water in the lower right hand corner of the painting. He seems to be reaching into the water and also holding maybe a rod of some sort. He is very close to the edge of the water and looks like he is actually couched down in the water with his feet in the water.
In the water there are boats and ships that are in sail. The ship that is closest to the viewer is bigger and easier to see details in. It is brown and has two big sails that are blown toward the sun. The way the sails are blown shows the direction of the wind and the direction of the boat. The boat is navigating northwest and it seems to be heading toward the island in the background. The land in the background seems to be a city of some sort with buildings and probably have people that live there. It seems thickly populated because it looks like it has a lot of close up buildings. The other ships in the boat are farther away and small some are so far that it’s hard to see them and they can only be seen if the viewer is really looking hard. There is a little landscape in the middle of the water completely surrounded with water. There is only one building on it that kind of looks like a grey dungeon. It is probably used to keep prisoners. Behind the dungeon is a greenish bush.
The body of water between the foreground and the background is seemingly calm. There are not many ripples of water not even around the ships located in the background. The boat that is closer there are little ripples that are visible. If the viewer plays close attention to the bottom right hand it looks as if there are two legs sticking out of the water and there seems to be a lot of motion because of the many ripples around that area of water. The ripples indicate movement and therefore giving the idea that the person just fell into the water or that the legs are kicking around to cause the ripples. The legs that are sticking out of the water belong to Icarus because in the myth Icarus’s failure to listen to his father Daedalus caused him to fall head first into the water and ultimately leading to his death.
Since the legs sticking out of the water is probably the last thing that is noticed about the painting its understandable why the painting is called “The landscape and the Fall of Icarus” because the painting is exactly that. The painting is mostly aimed toward the landscape such as the body of water the land and sun and peasants that are working. Icarus legs that are protruding from the water are not a significant portion of the picture. I actually don’t even think I would of noticed it if I didn’t read the title of the poem and looked for it. Since the title refers to Icarus we can safely assume that the peasants in the painting are the same as the one referred to in Ovid’s poem. In the myth of Icarus and Daedelus, Daedalus was banished from Crete for a crime that he committed. As an escape route Daedalus created wings for himself and his son Icarus. Daedalus instructed his son not to fly too high or too low or the heat of the sun would melt his wings. Icarus did not listen and therefore he flew toward the sun and the heat melted his wings and he fell into the water and died. But the only real indication of the myth of Daedalus and Icarus is the two little legs sticking out the water. The people in the painting are just small details of Ovid’s poem where everything is just occurring like it would on a normal day. That is why it is called “The Landscape and the Fall of Icarus.”
Overview: This painting seems to be one, obviously, from centuries ago, where manual labor was still the thriving way to get things done. There is a shepherd with his sheep and another laborer pushing a cart led by a horse. Then you have the landscape behind, which is just a great depiction of the ocean, complete with pirate-like ships sailing out there.
Parts: The first thing my eye went to was the person pushing the cart led by the horse, simply because the color of his shirt was such a vibrant red. Then I traveled down to the horse, with it’s head bowed just like the one pushing it, as it descended down the hill. After that I noticed the Sun off in the background of the painting. The Sun was painted so brightly and I love the way the yellows and oranges blend out to the blues and grays of the surrounding sky, it almost looks like steam or smoke, like the skies are on fire. Then I noticed the two boats and was immediately reminded, as I’m sure many others were, of “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Next came the actual water, which honestly it surprised me it had taken me that long to notice the water. I adore the water, and once I noticed the variety of color used in this painting to capture it, it made wish I had noticed this first. The water goes from a dark greenish brown on the far right, a navy blue around the edges, and an aquamarine, clear blue green in the middle and by the coast. Then came the rocks scattered around in the water. Next was the yellowish reflection of the Sun in the water and I was wondering if this is where Icarus might have fallen into the water after the glue from his wings melted. Next was in the far lower right hand corner, where it seemed someone, or something had fallen into the water. Then were the trees and the sheep in the middle, and how much detail went into the painting of them. I especially noticed how much detail the artist made in painting the big tree towards the left. Another small thing I noticed was the single gray sheep in the pen with the rest of the white ones. It took me a while to notice it, and I don’t know why this particular part of the painting interested me so much, it just did. Next was, again, in the lower right hand corner, where there seems to be some kind of sea creature in the water and a man that seems to either be looking at the creature, or is about to jump into the water. Then I noticed the little town next to the almost mountain, in the top left part of the painting. I like the colors used to paint the town, and also how there was a little gulf in the center of the town, like a port for ships, and the ship sailing into it. I wonder what town this was supposed to be if it was Athens, or another part of Greece or supposed to be a part of a completely separate country, so that Icarus and Daedas were as far away from Cretes as possible? Next I noticed the mountains off to the right, and I wondered if there were another town that was supposed to be too far away to notice the detail, or if they were just unsettled mountains where no one lived.
Title: Is title of the painting is Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. Like I said in the previous category, I think where the reflection of the Sun off the water is where Icarus actually fell into the water, and I thought this because the water seemed slightly disturbed here. Also, the yellow could have been maybe from his wings, like perhaps they caught on fire from the heat of the Sun, from being so close to it. But we could also see the title as a metaphor, or foreshadowing of the fall of Icaurs, for tempting fate and acting like a God.
Interrelationships: The one thing that I can see from the picture that connects to the actual myth is the shepherd. He is looking up toward the sky, which is mentioned in the actually poem. The workers looked up from what they were doing to watch Icarus and Daedas flying in the air and thought they were Gods. The only criticism I would have of the painting would be that maybe the artist should have included more workers that were looking up to the sky. Because there are only two workers in the painting and only one of them is looking up, and that single worker looking up is the only clear thing we notice to be connecting the painting to the myth of Icarus and Daedas.
Conclusion: At first when I was looking at the parts of the painting and considering the title of it I thought maybe the artist actually tried to depict where Icarus fell, but I started to think of the title in a more metaphorically sense. Like maybe he meant the title to be referencing both Icarus’s actual fall and the mistake both he and his father made by acting like they were Gods. Because the shepherd is looking up to the sky, watching them fly, and undoubtedly thinking they were Gods. But because the painting shows him still looking up, this must mean that they are still flying and he actually hasn’t fallen yet. So I think the painting is foreshadowing Icarus’s fall and that the reason he falls is because he tempted fate by acting like a God and also not heeding his father’s warning. I think that the artist was more so playing at the fact that they messed with fate by acting like Gods. The main reason I believe this is because if the artist was in fact focused on depicting their actual flying and his actual fall, they would have painted more people looking up, or would have painted the other two people in the painting looking up.
In the painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel, we are able to see how it is extremely filled with details and vibrant colors. When we first look at the picture, we are thrown of by so many things that it seems confusing to us, but as you stare into the picture and begin closely observing the smallest to largest details, it all makes more sense. The first thing that caught my attention was the big blob of yellow in the background above the ocean, which most likely seems to be the sun. The sun seems to be reflecting off the ocean which is a large panoramic view in the painting. In this panoramic view of the ocean what caught my eyes, were the far away objects like the grayish whitish mountains on the right hand corner, which seems to spread all the way under the sun. These mountains also seem to be covered by snow. Towards the middle of the ocean there seems to be a small empty island and a few boats around it. In the far left hand side is a fairly small city with some tall blurred out buildings. Towards the city the sky seems to be a darker shade of blue as if it had wiped off the rays of the sun shining above it. Next to the city in the left side there’s a tall wall. This looks more like a big rock hidden behind some bushes, but it also seems to me like a big castle. The center of focus of the picture is the man with black hair wearing the red and gray tunic. This man appears to be larger than any other object in the image. I cannot see his face for it’s hidden. He’s following a rig with a brown horse that is also facing down. There are a few green and brownish twiggy trees in the direction they are going and ahead of them in the same direction a dark indefinable place. Below him on the right side, but much smaller is another man with a blue shirt. This man has he’s arms crossed around a stick with seems to be supporting him. Next to the man is a brown dog. Both seem to be staring up into the sky. Around the man and the dog is a group of about 15 visible sheep and in the middle of them 2 cattle. Next to them on the right side there’s a human figure in the water, as if it were drowning and in front of that a small ship going out into the ocean. In front of all this up from a rock there’s a man in a white shirt facing down, but all you can see is his dorsal part. Also in the far background next to the sun there are two flying black birds.
The title of this painting is “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.” There were a few things that I thought connected. The two black birds flying near the big yellow blob in the back which represents the sun, the two black birds could be representing Daedalus and Icarus flying. The empty island that’s in the middle of the ocean could be the island that they were imprisoned at. Also the human being figure that seems to be drowning in the ocean could be Icarus who has had his wings melted from flying to high near the sun or he fell into the water from flying too near it. The man walking toward the indefinable dark place behind the rig with the horse to me symbolized Icarus father because he has his head done as if he were sad, and that’s how Icarus father probably felt when his son didn’t listen to him. He was probably disappointed and ashamed of his son. Also the man that seems to be watching the figure drown could be Icarus father yelling at him and saying, “I told not to fly to high or too low, why didn’t you listen to me”. But mostly like the man walking away is Icarus father because of the fact that he is in a larger scale compared to the other figures. And Bruegel probably made him that way so the viewers could focus on him and be able to make this connection to the poem. I think that as a whole the picture represents the steps towards the fall of Icarus. Basically every aspect of the image you can get and connect to something in the poem.
This oil painting by the renaissance Pieter Bruegel called Landscape with the Fall of Icarus created in 1558 is depicting the story of Daedalus and his young and naïve son Icarus. Particularly the scene while Daedalus’ son drowns because he disregards his father’s warnings of going to high and to low with the pasted wings to his back, he goes higher and higher, which is what his father told him not to do, he ends up going to close to the warm sun. The pasted wings melt off causing the boy to free falls into the not so shallow waters and drowns. The painter has also drawn in the minor characters, the workers, who were looking at Daedalus son in the sky thinking that he must be a god. The sun is painted very bright with light colors lighting up most of the painting and small islands and ships are in the bay and the dark trees and water.
The first thing I noticed in the painting is how close the painter painted Daedalus’ son to the shore. The painter must have painted it this way for a purpose. Thinking about this I came to the conclusion that it was painted like this to show how weak humans are compared to gods. It seems like between him and the land the distance isn’t too far so you can see the wings didn’t last long and he isn’t strong enough to make it to shore when the wings fail. The boy’s legs look as if he is struggling in the water and he clearly is in need of help, which his father can’t give him. He is left to get swallowed up by the sea and over taken by nature.
Another thing I noticed immediately after was the sun in the distance and the darkness of where the drowning boy is. It’s obvious to see the big contrast with brightness and darkness in this oil painting. Where Daedalus is look so dark, dreadful and the area where Daedalus’ son is drowning seem to be the darkest area in the painting even the workers close by have a little sunlight beaming on them creating faint shadows but the sun in the far distance shows the beautiful, bright, and sunny land with a lovely looking small city or town. It could be possible that the person observing the painting is supposed to understand Daedalus’ desire to get off the Island where he is being held prisoner. He and his son are in the dark, which usually stands for, bad and evil while others are in light that usually stands for the good and happy.
The sun is painted in such a way that the viewers’ main focus at first would most likely be it. The sun brightens up most of the sky with the exception of the area were Daedalus and his son are. The sun is also drawn in the distance. Seeing how far the sun is and it still had the power to melt the wings of Daedalus’ son. The huge, vast horizon is drawn so big and poor Daedalus and his son are drawn so small and they’re painter in the corner, even the workers: the fisherman, the shepherd and the ploughman are drawn bigger than them. This also can be a reminder of how much power the gods have over mere mortals.
The Fall of Icarus is a great painting. The painter clearly worked hard on this painting and the result was extraordinary. Pieter Bruegel’s point of view on the story was that Daedalus and Icarus were way out of their league. Daedalus, the mortal, basically tried to take on the gods but they are gods and their power is too strong for a mere mortal. The gods own and run the land and are in control of nature. I believe this is why the Daedalus and Icarus are in the dark part of the land and in the rest of the painting the sunlight beams on everything else and brightens the scenery up. Bruegel’s contrast of lights and darks are brilliant it’s almost like the painter was trying to show how it is on the good side of the god and how it is on the bad side of the gods.
Daedalus and Icarus both deserve the consequences to their actions. Daedalus is wrong to send his young son into the sky, and Icarus should have listened closely to his father. One of them is dead thanks to their plan to sort of trick the gods and fly away from their imprisonment. Icarus went too high ultimately causing him to fall down low and drown to death. A life lesson Daedalus and Icarus had to learn the hard way
Disobeying his fathers demand to fly a middle path, away from the sun, but above the mist of the ocean, Icarus and his arrogance falls. In Pieter Bruegel’s landscape “Fall of Icarus” refers to the poem “The Story of Deadulus and Icarus” by Ovid. Deadulus make wings for him and his son to fly out of the island. Deadulus defied gravity. There are a lot of distractions and a lot of activities and all the activities are slow, and relaxed this creates a hectic but calm scene. Everyone is working hard for what they need, for their life, to create a stable environment for their own families. The people in the painting have no motivation to care for unimportant ideas such as the regret of someone else’s issues. Quickly analyzing this painting the eye will center in and focus on the man in the red shirt. This is the plowman that is mentioned in the poem “The Story of Deadulus and Icarus”. There is a fisherman in this painting, in perfect view of the drowning Icarus. The fisherman seems not to be worried or moved by death. The fisherman seems to look at death as if it happens everyday, because it does. The fisherman has excepted this. The shepherd staring up at the sky might be looking for something to believe in. He could be realizing that he is happy with what he has. The expression on his face seems curious and willing to create and learn new things. The ocean is not moving; the only sign of movement in the ocean is the thrashing legs of Icarus. The ocean is quiet and like the other characters in this painting is careless of Icarus’ mistake. The drowning boy in the ocean phases no one. The wind is powerful, strongly pulling the sails of the heavy boats the wind, like everything else, and will not stop soaring for anyone. There are many sheep symbolizing the many people in the world, humans are all sheep like in the sense people follow rules and follow society.
Glancing at this painting without evaluating it, Icarus looks insignificant to the painting, as if he has no purpose other than to prove arrogance. Not only is nothing effected by him however he is such a small piece of this painting that he almost disappears in the ocean. I believe that in the background I can see Deadulus continuing is path to where he wants to be without his son. This proving that people should not stop their life for another’s mistake. I believe that people grow out of each other. By Icarus simply failing for himself he also was able to teach a lesson to every single person who has heard his story. Therefore in a way he did not fail.
This painting is completely out of scale. This emphasizes that sometimes the little things in life are the only things that matter, they are the things that have a larger impact on life rather than the more intense things such as death. The man in the red is gigantic compared to Icarus and everything else in the painting. This symbolizes that the things that he is capable of doing are more important that what Icarus is capable of doing. I believe that the red in his shirt symbolizes love, or emotion, the purpose of the man in the red is to show that human beings have emotions. Icarus is looked up to as a god before he flies too high and the sun melts his wings. However unlike the man in the red Icarus has no significant color or visible emotion. Noticing that Icarus is drowning and that this fast action is occurring no character in this painting is paying any attention to it. Life will continue on after death, in the over all view there will be no sympathy for someone who makes their own mistakes themselves, someone else’s mistake should not and will not affect another persons progress in their own life. Deadulus believed that he had this down to a science, everyone thinks that they have life down to a science, but the actual science is that there is no specific procedure its all in guesses and experiments. And as soon as one small flaw happens the whole success turns into a failure. When they find the experiment that works for them they use it until it does not work anymore then they guess all over again.
The colors used in this painting seem to be contradicting themselves. In the foreground the usage of colors are darker and more mysterious. However in the background the colors are bright and welcoming. This could be because in the foreground there are hard workers and people, who have to struggle, showing pain and achievement. However the workers are able to have this great view created for them. A sign of hope, an open sea and an open sky, space for all dreams to come true. However such a large space for failure and downfall. Icarus learns that no matter how much space you have to grow there is a certain point where people can become depressed if they have no hopes and dreams, or you can fly too high and it makes it easier to fall and the fall is a lot further. Also I noticed that the name of this painting is Fall of Icarus. Fall as in an action. However fall can also symbolize fall as in the season. Fall represents the beginning of an end. Winter symbolizes death and decay. Fall prepares life for death. Fall gives the earth and life warning that winter, death is near.
Throughout this painting there is a lot of contradicting and strong points to be made. I enjoy this painting however it is almost sad to look at because it reminds me that in the larger scheme of things one person can either make no difference or a very large difference. This all depends on what path in the sky that is chosen, the high one the low one or a centered balanced one.
I find Walter Pauk’s interesting because he swapped the point of view of the story. In the actual story of Daedalus and his son, Icarus, it is told from up in the sky. Although the story does mention a couple of workers down on the ground most of the story is from the sky. The painting by Pauks decides to make the imagery of what the humans show during Icarus’ downfall. What I first noticed when seeing the painting was the man working with the mule. These humans were working hard for their food worshipping the Gods but one of them is up in the sky screwing up and not being very God like at all. I also noticed the different shades in the painting. Up in the sky is bright and luminescent but down on the ground with the humans is very shady and dark. I find this strange since a God is falling the sea because his tragic flaw. I would imagine that the sky would be dark. But then again, he is falling so where he lands should be dark and depressing because Daedalus flew a straight path and his wings did not melt and fall off. So the sky is shinning bright for him while Icarus’ path is not so happy and bright.
The more and more I look at the painting the more and more I notice. Down in the sea is a leg coming sticking out looking like it fell in from the sky and is having a hard time staying above water. The shadiest part of the sea is where this being fell. That goes back to what I said before saying that Icarus’ path is not at illuminated as his fathers. If this leg sticking out of the water does belong to Icarus’ the painter made it so not one of the humans on the ground are looking at him. They are “turning their back” as some would say. The God has basically betrayed them and Daedalus by acting up so they do not care for him anymore. If any human seemed to be somewhat starring or at least the closest to the figure would be the fisherman down on the side. Also, I might be analyzing the painting just a tad more than I should and this could possibly be a stretch but below the leg in the water there seems to be a dark creature swimming up towards him. I’m guessing this is death coming for Icarus’ because I believe the time of this painting is just before Icarus dies. This makes sense because the humans have already turned their backs on him and the creature death is not coming for him.
Then again, that creature of death in which I was talking to passionately about and believed to be what the painter intended could have just been the end of a branch. That’s why I said I might have over analyzed it just a tad bit. The sky is very beautiful in this picture but I am wondering why the Pauk’s placed the Sun where he did. The sun is down near the horizon not up in the sky at all. So what is questionable is how Icarus was burnt by the sun when he flew higher when the sun is at dusk. At dusk the sun is the least powerful and is not high in the sky whatsoever. If Pauks wanted to capture the image of Icarus’ downfall why did he place the sun on the horizon and not up in the sky where it could burn the wings of the tragic hero. Possibly the sun went down as Icarus went down. But I would only see that happening if a sun God was disappointed in Icarus. In Greek mythology strange things occur so I would’t be surprised if the sun set at Icarus’ life was setting as well.
I also notice the wind in the picture. I know this doesn’t seem very important but it could if the painter intentionally made a mistake. I’m not trying to pick out every painters mistake because I’m sure he did every single detail in the beautiful piece of artwork for a reason. But I believe that the rock castle in the sea is where Icarus and his father were imprisoned. It looks like the only place in the painting where they could have been held prisoner. The sails on the biggest ship are blowing towards the rock castle. If Icarus and Daedlus were flying in the direction I think there were flying in they would have the wind against them. My assumptions on the direction they were flying are based on the legs coming out of the see at the corner of the painting. Of course these legs could not be Icarus and they could have had a smooth flight in the direction the wind was going in but if it was him then the flight must have been very tough especially with wax and feathers wings. In the story, it says nothing of the wind blowing against them so this could possibly be a mistake but then again could be a genius move on the painter’s part and I just do not understand why.
Overall I really like the painting. I has got really beautiful color tones which can definitely make the viewer feel a swarm of emotions. The colors are the colors of nature. Green, blue, tan, brown, baby blue sky, all of which have nature writing all over it. Nature was a big theme in the painting because nature is what caused Icarus’ downfall. The Sun and his tendency to not listen to elders was our tragic hero’s tragic flaw. What else is there to say about this beautiful piece of artwork? I think it is funny that each worker in on the ground has to stick to his own path or they will fall. Let me explain in more detail. Wherever they are standing they are close to a cliff or some type of a drop. If they move from the course in which they are standing they are likely to fall just like the tragic hero Icarus.
In Bruegel Pieter’s painting entitled Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus there are a lot of bright, vibrant colors which makes the person observing the painting believe that this is a happy painting, but the irony is in the title Landscape With the Fall of Icarus, The characters in the painting tell a much different story through their faces. From my point of view this painting is a visual display between the contrast of good and evil, happy and sad, and the ideas of tragic heroes.
When looking at this painting I see people laboring in order to benefit others. For example at first glance there is a man plowing the grass in order to make soil to create crops so people can be able eat, in front of the man there is a horse pulling the plow in order to help the man make crops. The man is laboring for someone of higher ranking than him and the horse is laboring for the man who is laboring for someone else. Then if you look beyond the man and the horse you will see a boy with a stick, a stick used to heard sheep. The stick in this case is getting the brunt of the labor because it is the tool being used to herd the sheep. The boy is laboring upon the sheep, the sheep are the ones being labored upon, and the sheep are being herder in order for to make more room for citizens or to make food or clothing for the citizens. Now if you look to the right of the herder you will seen a person hunched over looking as if he or she is fishing. This person is laboring to acquire food for his or her family because this was believed to be the way of life for people of lower social classes so they could eat to survive. Then looking beyond the person fishing you see ships sailing. Ships probably filled with goods with captains sailing the ships to their desired destinations and the ships being the things labored upon having to take the brunt of the sail by maneuvering through the sometimes shallow waters hitting against rocks and other obstructions that could cause damage to the ship.
The title Landscape With The Fall of Icarus, is very ironic to the painting to the untrained eye and the unknowing soul to the myth behind Icarus. When you look at the painting at a glance you see bright playful, vibrant colors which sometimes relates to happiness. That’s the ironic part to the title landscape which is playful and happy with bright colors then comes the fall of Icarus which makes it not so playful, happy and fun, you start to see more of the picture behind the color for example the people laboring. If you really take a closer look at their faces you will see that not one of them is smiling not even smirking they looked pained and exhausted. Then if you look even closer you will see leg’s and feet sinking in to the water right behind the ships closest to the person fishing. Maybe that is Icarus and this is what has happened since his fall as stated in the title of the painting Landscape With the fall of Icarus. The whole myth behind Icarus is that Icarus and his father built wings made out of wax and feathers in order to escape from jail Icarus’s father Daedalus warned his sun not to get to close to the sun because the wax would melt but Icarus was so excited to be able to fly that he forgot and went to closer to the sun and as a result the wings melted and he feel into the water.
In the painting Landscape With the Fall of Icarus, there is a story being told about Icarus. Icarus is the person in the painting with his feet hanging out of the water, the one who is drowning. Icarus is drowning because he was flying with wings made out of wax and feathers but he got to full of himself when he discovered how fun flying was and drifted way to close to the sun and the wings melted and as a result he drowned in the water as visible in the painting. Now if you look beyond the feet you see a person on the shore looking as if they were either fishing or trying to help Icarus out of the water very unsuccessfully. Then looking beyond the man by the shore you will see the laboring sheep herder looking toward the sky. Looking toward the sky probably because he saw someone or something fall from the sky. That someone being Icarus falling from the sky because he neglected to keep in mind his fathers warnings about getting to close to the sun. Or maybe that man is looking at Icarus father soaring high in the sky watching hopelessly down on his drowning son who neglected to pay attention to his warnings. Looking beyond the sheep herder you will see a man plowing the land if you look closely at him you will see that he has his head down as if nothing has happened around him. Maybe its because he was of a lower social class that he just didn’t seem to care what else was going on around him all he wanted to do was finish his work and get his pay.
In conclusion this painting tells a great story to the trained eye and the knowing mind about the myth of Icarus. At first glance this painting looks bright, vibrant, and playful but with a little analysis you are able to come to the conclusion that there is another part to this painting than just brightness. There is a lesson that all should keep in mind, do not ever get to full of yourself and always try to acknowledge warnings given to you. Life can be deceiving but don’t be deceived be the deceiver.
The first thing I notice is the vibrant colors. The blues, yellows and pinks give this painting a pop. There are also contrasting colors at the extremes of the painting, like the outsides. The sun seems to be extremely bright in the center of the painting. It also looks like the most yellow actually occurs above the sun, not actually coming from the sun. This may be a away to separate Apollo from his horses and chariot, because he was what the Greeks and Romans. At first the only people I saw were the people working on their livelihood. The man with his cow or other beast tilling the ground seems very focused on doing that. The shepard is holding his stick and seemingly paying little attention to his sheep. He is looking up toward the sky, possibly praying to the gods because the gods were very important in their society. There is a fisher man who is paying much attention to the water. He doesn’t notice what looks to be legs sticking out of the water. I can’t really tell if t actually legs or not, it could be fish tales, but considering the painting is called The Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, I assume that it is Icarus. The only birds in sight seem to be very far away. There are only two, so I thought there was a possibly that they aren’t birds, but in actuality they were Icarus and Daedulus, but then I saw the legs in the bottom right hand corner of the painting. I think that the birds are placed far away from the viewers perspective because Bruegal is trying to tell us that we aren’t meant to be able to be with the birds when they are flying. There seems to be a lot of boats floating on the water. They vary in sizes, ranging from what looks to be single sail fishing boats to what looks like a full on pirate ship. There is an island in the middle, but actually I can’t decide if its an island or a low cloud that the viewer is looking down on. This cloud island has some red on it. The picture is either too blurry or the cloud island is too far away for me to understand what the artist is trying to portray here. There is path in the sky that is seems to be put together by a combination of the clouds and the darks and lights of the sky. There is even a suggestion of wings coming from it. This may be the middle path that Daedulus tired to persuade Icarus to take, but as a child he decided to fly too high. The yellow that I mentioned before that seems to be disconnected from the sun, may be the point where Icarus fell. There is glacial looking island in the upper right hand corner of the painting. I don’t understand why there would be a glacier there, because there wouldn’t be any glaciers anywhere in Europe. This may be a device to show how Daedulus felt being away from home. He might have felt as though he was so far away that he was near glaciers. Although I’m not sure that Bruegal would have had the capabilities of knowing that glaciers were actually that far away. Therefore he might trying to portray how cold Daedulus was after losing Icarus. There is a little bit of pictorial irony in having the icy , cold looking area being closest to the sun. There are also two small objects, probably boats, near the glacier. The name is also very telling on where Bruegel wanted your attention. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus makes it clear that we should be looking at the landscape. The detail lies in the trees, the hills, the boats, the water, and the sky. There is very little to suggest it is a landscape around the fall of Icarus. The only thing that a person not knowing the title might be able to guess it is the fall of Icarus is the feet at the bottom of the picture. There is an island in the middle, a little on the left, that has a cave in it. I’m not sure what the significance of it is, but there is a definite purpose because of where it is positioned on the painting. There is only two black sheep that the shepard is taking care of. This could possibly be symbolic for Daedulus and Icarus in how they remove themselves from the rest of the normal people, who are the white sheep, in that they are flying above the rest of the people that never tried to separate themselves. The large pirate ship looking boat seems to have a light on it. I can’t tell from what, or why, but there is definite lighter dot on the ship. There is a seemingly big city on the upper left hand of the picture. There are approximately three buildings that have some resemblance of detail. The rest of the city is just a collection of white hues and pink flourishes. This again might be away to show the disassociation from the mainstream society at the time. The sails on the ships seem to be moving a lot, do to the great size of the sails. This would be from a great wind, which I assume would be better flying weather. There seem to be a little of detail and focus on the plants near the front of the painting. There is also a fuzziness about the people shown in the people. I like how the people are actualy really close to each other if you are talking about distance on the canvas, but feel far apart by the way the artist drew them. On the corners of the sky it looks like a storm is brewing. Overall this is really pretty painting, but I would not want it in my living room or my house in general.
In the Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, Bruegel uses contrasting brightness to express a certain mellow feeling in the presence of lively colors. The painting gives brightness from the sun, but on around all the brightness of the painting there is a certain darkness that is resting on the outskirts of the sun’s rays. Also, Bruegel uses countless symbols that can be interpreted many different ways. Some symbols that Bruegel uses also have symbols generally thought of, an symbols that are shown through his painting that both compare and contrast.
The sun has a large effect on the paint as a whole. In the center of the painting, the sun shines on everything within its contact, giving all those in contact, a bright luminous glow. However, the painting shows large areas that contain overwhelming amounts of shadow that one can’t help to notice. The shadow contrasting the sun symbolizes the negative side of life that coherently exists with the better side of life.
Scanning for life, the thin branching tree is lively with vegetation growing from each of its branches. As the sun sets, the suns leaving gives the tree a rather a dark shadow covering nearly the whole tree except a thin layer of light reflecting off the tree from the sun. Trees are commonly a symbol for life, growth, and doing well in life. The tree having a darkened glow to its bark shows a contrasting feeling to what trees symbolize; Trees symbolizing life, while darkness symbolizing death.
The field worker is plowing his field with the horse. Mindful of his hard work, the field worker works on the field day after day in order to get food in order to sell, eat, and live. Also, farmers often depend on the weather to have a good harvest season. This dependence shows how much of a risk the farmers take to live. A bad season of harvest can lead to a year of starvation and even death. Also, a farmer does not just work for his life; he has to work with nature. Working with nature is a wonderful thing, but innocent nature can turn into a devastating machine that goes against the needs of humanity. Farmers need nature for rain and sunlight. Nature can be cruel and give the farmers a flood, or a storm. Nature has both good and bad qualities. One nature delivers sanctuary, the other is a destroyer of harmony.
The ship on the waters in the gulf is traveling out onto open waters. The section of water where the sun illuminates seems to be the ships destination. Behind the ship, where the ship is sailing from, lies murky water. Behind the ship is murky dark water that gives me the feeling of polluted industrial water that was once pure. It’s water that is pure natural ocean water that was tainted by the pollution of society. The water can just about represent the entire planet, of how society and humanity, over time, has polluted the vast planet earth with its pollutants. This idea of pollutants can also apply to diffusion of ideas. How rumors, facts, and ways of thinking, such as religions, spread around to people.
The ship is traveling with the wind, not against it. This gives me another view on how society needs to work with nature, or else, nature will go against you. Nature is a force to be reckoned with. No man can work against nature and conquer it that is why man chooses to work with nature and conquer with it. Together, humans can create a world where he uses nature as his tool. A tool that will in effect destroy the earth itself.
The ship is traveling out. It seems as if the ship is sailing into unknown waters, unknown water resembling the unknown. People are so fascinated about the unknown because they don’t know what lies there. Society strives to know the unknown so much. Many religions have a god, and an afterlife that is an unknown. The sea today has the deep uncharted depths of the deep blue.
Behind the ship in the murky waters there seems to be a person either diving into the water, or drowning in the water. The person is in murky polluted water. This can symbolize humanity being lost in their own corrupted culture, a culture where false truths are told, and fake headlines are made to shield the population from the truth. Also, the person is drowning in water, an element of life and nature. This can either symbolize a person’s fight in life to survive or succeed, or it can also symbolize a person’s battle with nature, or in another hand, the gods. This drowning person’s struggle to survive can relate to the many Greek myths about heroes struggling against the impossible odds against gods, monsters, and creatures all in order to achieve a goal whether it may be to survive or save another life.
In the distance of the ship, there are mountains, mountains that look rather large from a distant, but still visible. These mountains leave a feeling of restraint. The mountains can represent a cage of imprisonment, limited grounds on which the boat can sail. Limits also remind me of how even after we’ve mapped out this entire earth, after we’ve mapped out each crack and cranny of this planet, there is still the whole universe yet to be discovered. Also, these mountains remind me of how the Greek gods lived on Mount Olympus. From there, the gods would govern or change the live of people who lived below. This can also directly relate on how the farmers have to work with nature in order to survive and live a good life/year. Nature is controlled by the gods, and in turn, working with nature is like working with the gods. To contrast that statement, working against nature, or working to defy nature, is also stating one is working against or working to defy the gods. In many Greek myths, there are many stories of heroes working with the gods to conquer countless monsters and creatures.
Mr. Gallagher, this should be 1,019 words without this sentence telling you that it’s 1,019 words.
Pieter Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus is a breathtaking oil canvas painting with immense attention to detail and lighting. Despite Icarus’s impact in the water and his eventual death, the other people in the scene do not seem to notice, suggesting their lack of concern or interest.
The painting is aptly named, since it depicts a beautiful countryside coast and the literal fall of Icarus. Bruegel probably included the “Fall of Icarus” in the title to make certain that his audience notices Icarus’s inconspicuous dangling legs in the bottom right. The “fall” signifies his death due to his naivety and inexperience, and his plummet from the sky. Starting from the middle, in the foreground, is a farmer wearing a bright red shirt, the first eye catcher of the painting, since nowhere else in the scene is there an object that is as vivid. It sticks out in a way, compared to all the dark and yellow colors in the image. The farmer moves to the left, plowing his field with the help of his horse. The surrounding foliage to the left of the farmer, especially the blooming trees with few leaves, seems to imply that it is spring, a season commonly associated with rebirth and renewal. Behind the farmer is a shepherd in blue with a walking stick and his herding dog. While seemingly in the middle of guiding his flock of sheep, he stares up to the upper left corner, possibly noticing the faint black shapes of the two birds flying overhead. Realizing that he can never be anything else but a simple shepherd, he probably dreams about being able to fly – a dream that comes true for Daedalus and Icarus. In the bottom right, a red-headed man in a white shirt sits on the edge of the water, extending his arm into the water as if to recover something he dropped. Nearby in front of the man is Icarus’s ill-fated end. Moments before, the boy had flown too close to the sun, causing his artificial wax wings to melt, sending him plunging into the water. The splash however, seems insignificant when the whole scene is taken into account. Bruegel must be emphasizing the incident as a petty occurrence. In agreement, the farmer, shepherd, and red-headed man continue with their actions, apparently not aware of Icarus’s splash. Towards the background and the sea, several ships and boats maneuver in the water, sails blown by the high winds. Some of the ships look like galleons, ships frequently used for commerce and trade. To the left in the background is a small coastal village with the appearance of several stucco buildings. The adjacent sea and land seem to engulf the pale village, camouflaging it in the painting. Below the village and towards the viewer is a curious dark grey stone formation covering an entire little island. The structure, perhaps manmade but destroyed and abandoned, has a small black door-shaped hole, most likely indicating an entrance. To the left and right of the village, as well as surrounding the sea on the right, are faint outlines of mountains. On the horizon line of the glimmering water, a setting sun emits its last rays, bathing the entire landscape in a lively, warm, golden glow, as if to console mortals on Earth after punishing Icarus’s impatience. The clouds above reflect much of the rays, creating the form of a large gold ball blended into the pastel blue sky. It is interesting to note that Icarus’s wings melted when he flew too high and too close to the sun, according to Ovid’s interpretation of the myth in his poem, Metamorphoses. However, the painting clearly shows a setting sun. It also does not include a representation of Daedalus. Perhaps Bruegel wanted to accentuate and focus on just Icarus and his demise, and the concurrent scenery of that exact moment.
Through the painting, Bruegel seems to express the indifference of the world and the people that inhabit it. For instance, if someone dies, the world could care less about the loss of one person. In the painting, irony ensues and captures this apathy. The sun gives warmth and light to the hard-working people below, even as it begins to disappear for the night. Continuing their tasks, the farmer and shepherd benefit from the last remaining traces of the sun allowing them to work just a bit more and make a better living, as little as it is. Ironically, the sun had just melted Icarus’s wings, for the young boy enjoyed the feeling of flight too much, and to the dismay of his father, flew too high. Even though Icarus crashes into the water, likely making a big splash, absolutely no one in the picture takes notice. A ship even seems to pass by Icarus’s thrashing legs! Judging from the ship’s sails, the wind seems to try its best blowing the ship away from Icarus. In addition, the workers in the scene are preoccupied with their lives, and care more about completing the jobs required to survive, rather than gawk at and dream about mortals who dared challenge the realm of the gods. This sin of defying the gods and denying gravity is looked down upon, according to Bruegel, for the world would not notice if someone achieved such a feat. Instead, the euphoria of something that humans were not made to experience, in this case, flight, is a crime that will charge the perpetrator a serious cost – Icarus’s own life and Daedalus’s loss of his son.
If humans don’t even care about others gaining godly powers and careening into ruin, there is much wonder as to what effect the downfall of gods would cause. Although faith and religion exist to explain natural phenomenon and to give people reason and hope in living, even the most ardent of worshippers will not take notice of an angel who has fallen in front of him when all he is concerned with is putting food on his family’s dinner table. Bruegel does a fine job of conveying this subtle truth in his painting alluding the famous Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus.
At first site of Landscape With the Fall of Icarus, by Pieter Bruegel, I notice the sun off in the horizon. The sun illuminates the whole picture as everything is tinted with yellow. Then the sight of a man dressed in green and red orange stringing or playing a rather large instrument which is like a violin. Then the great blue sea catches my eyes as the color is so soothing to the eyes when in contrast with the sun. It makes the mind feel like it is a calm spring day. Then my eyes wander to find other signs of life and then spot two more people. One man is wearing dark green pants and a blue shirt holding a rod or stick planted in grass. It looks as if he is farming but he is facing towards the sky so there must be something in the sky that I can not see since it is not in the picture. He is also surrounded by pigs and a dog which could mean that he actually is farming. The other man is wearing a white shirt with a black belt and hat. He is crouching over the water as if he is washing his clothes or fishing. The water on this man’s side is black and could mean something more. Then the ship comes into focus. It is brown and has 2 large sails. There is another boat but the one closest to shore is the larger one. The smaller boat has 3 sails and is way out in the water compared to the other ship. Then I notice another even smaller vessel right next to the smaller boat. It has one sail and a small body. All the ships seem to be made of wood since they are brown. I notice two legs hanging out of the water and think back of the title. The title says Landscape With the Fall of Icarus which could mean that those 2 legs hanging out of the water could be Icarus’s legs and that would mean that he is the one drowning. So this would lead to the story where Icarus was learning to fly and he lost his wings due to him flying too high where his wings melted. Then he fell down and soared straight into the water where his legs dangle above water while he is in the water. So back to the other man in the green pants and blue shirt. He is looking up at the sky and according to the story, Daedalus should be up in the sky looking at his dead son. So this farmer man is looking at Daedalus watch his son die. Then I look at the rest of the soothing blue waters for any other small details that I could miss. I notice that there is what seems to be a town far in the distance and there are mountains on the other side of the picture from the town. Also there is a mini island in the water which looks like a dungeon or a castle buy the shape of its door and the structure that resembles a concrete or gravel castle. Then I notice the trees that are in the picture. All the plants are green and the trees have green leaves. Even though some of the trees have very few leaves, the leaves are still green which means it can not be fall so it must be spring. If it was fall, the leaves would be the color of autumn which we see a lot here in New England. The leaves and plants turn orange or red during the fall and in the picture it is clearly still green. To explain the few leaves that are there, it must be right after winter or early in the spring that this picture is trying to show. Since there are no leaves on trees in the winter, they start to sprout in the beginning of spring and this would be how it would look. That would also explain why the people are wearing such clothes to keep warm. If it was summer the people would be wearing clothes for the summer which could be shorts or short sleeves. In the spring the weather is still not so cold and not so hot so their clothes that the people are wearing are reasonable. The people in this picture are just going through daily life and the only one out of place would be the two legs hanging out of the water which should be Icarus. There does not seem to be wings anywhere in the picture though. If so they are not very apparent. The side where Icarus is drowning has black water which could show the water that weighs Icarus’s wings down that Daedalus warns his son about. All of a sudden my eyes shaped together a donkey, mule, or horse that is in the picture. It is right with the man that is playing the the instrument. Since the donkey is there, it could be a whip the man is holding to use on the donkey. It seems that Bruegal wanted to show it was just another ordinary day for these fellow people until a kid with wax wings flies into the air and crashes into the water. Bruegal places the story right in with a landscape which is the title. Landscape With the Fall of Icarus, which is what it literally shows. Icarus is face down and his legs are above the water which was his fall. Bruegal just plugged it together. So Daedalus was teaching his son to fly one day and warned him the precautions of flying. His son Flies too high and his wings of wax melt and his falls right into the water. His wings sink as he does too and this is where Bruegal paints the picture. The farmer is looking up at the sky as Daedalus screams in horror at the sight of his son dieing and the water is black on the side where Icarus is sinking to show death.
In the painting “The fall of Icarus” someone can see the people who said that they must be gods the man wearing what seems to be a red tunic and brown tights with black shoes and he is also wearing with what seems to be a black hat possibly to protect him from the sun. He is pushing a machine, which is used to dig the dirt, and it seems that brown horse with a beige blanket on his back. The horse seems to be pulling a something so the farmer is able to make the soil softer and the farmer can grow his crops. The picture also shows a man in a blue shirt and brown pants with his dark haired with white spots. The man seems to be looking up to the sky maybe enjoying the scenery or just looking at the fact that Icarus just was defining the gods as he was herding his sheep. There is a castle made of gray stone and it’s in the middle of being of what seem to be a port or the edge of a city. There are two rocks in front of the opening of the castle like structure as to spot from ships coming in or getting out. Near the water edges there is where the sheep are eating the grass there is what seems to be a person with a green fin also known as mermaid. In front of the mermaid there is a fisherman who is wearing a white tunic and some for of a hat to protect him from the sun. He is fishing and trying to live his life. A giant brown ship is sailing with its large white sails seems to be heading to port and deliver or pick up goods that he has brought or that he is taking from the city that is a far away in the background. The city seems like a busy city where people go and buy and sells goods in the markets because there are many ships that are either heading or are returning from the port. Above where the man who is fishing in the brown and tree with some white branches there is the possibility that there is some for of a little brown creature known as a partridge In the distance there is either a sun that is rising or that is setting which makes the whole scenery very beautiful and showing that the people of the island or the city work all day for the things they need such as food all day so they can have some sort of way to survive. If someone was to look closely at the painting people can see a form of netting that is caste from the ship and they are bringing the net back into the ship. When people through a net over the ship it is a common way that people used and use to catch a large quantity of fish so that way they can make a profit and make a living as well. In the distance to the left of the painting where the rocks are brighten by the sun hitting rocks making them brighter one can notice two bird like figures. One of the bird like figures is really up into the sky and the other bird like figure seems to be in the ocean. The scenery of the painting is showing a peaceful and tranquil way that everyone lives in such as the waves with white foaming tops going into shore of land or an island and the rest of the ocean ever so peaceful the city that one sees there is no form or violence or anything it just seems that the city just wants to live there life one day at a time and get through what is known to be a work day or a regular day in there lives. In the top right hand corner near the setting or rising sun there is an island that seems to have no activity adding to how peaceful and quite the whole painting is, except all the ships in the distance that are surrounding it and probably fishing as well or just having a leisure time so they can enjoy the beautiful rising or setting sun set.
In the Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, Bruegel uses symbolism and metaphor through the graphic and description of colors in the painting. It’s showing the morals between humans and Gods. One of the men is looking at the sky and it gives the viewer a sense of feeling that he’s prying to the Gods to look for shelter and guidance. The darkness in the sky resembles darkness covering the world of the people. The sun is going through the process of the sunset phase. The sun is setting which means that darkness is covering the land. The sun is supposed to represent brightness and enlightenment. The sun is hope for others who are being shunned in the darkness of evil. The sun gives off warmth and it represents comfort when one is feeling cold and aloneness in the meanness of the world. The sun can also represent that the world is ending for the man. The sky is filled with clouds which can symbolizes rain. Rain is a symbol for pain and sadness. It can also represent a storm. A storm can be used resulted to a drastic event that may take place. A storm can be dangerous so it can be a warning sign that a big event just happen. It may also represent anger. Maybe the Gods are angry with the human men and are punishing them by sending a storm that may result to their death.
As the viewer goes down from the sky the mountains are being seen. Some mountains are being shown behind the clouds. This can represent a secret place that the mountains are being located or hiding. Also mountains can also represent protection by surrounding the cities. This prevents invaders to take over by intruding the lives of those who live in the city. On one side of the landscape there are brighter colors and show more of a open space however when you reach to more the other side there are trees that look as if they are dying and lifeless. This side of the landscape can represent death and abandonment. The people of the city have abandoned this part of the land. The soil looks useless and can not provide food and things that one needs to survive. On this side of the land the water is dark and unhealthy. The boat looks as if it’s escaping from this part of the land. It seems as they left in fear and one of the men fall off due to rushing and the men leave him to drawn. It seems as if the drowning man is trying to swim but something is holding him down.
As the viewer moves up to the landscape the two men are also standing on the darkness end of the landscape while the other side of the landscape contains brightness. This is saying that the two men are being cast out of the city. The working men have their own duties. One of the men is holding a stick for support to balance of himself standing up. This can resemble the fact that he is human and contains flaws. Beside him is a dog that is the protector of the men. The sheep are also being commanded by the dog. The dog can be a form of a God for the dogs. The men near the shallow of the water look as if his job is to catch fish and perhaps cook it. He doesn’t even acknowledge the fact of the drowning man. He goes on with his business. This shows that the characteristic of the people is only to think about themselves and not the wealth of others. The men with the red shirt seem as if his duty is to accompany the horses in that part of land. He’s chasing the horse as if he’s going to beat him. The man is crossing the bridge to reach the other side of the land. The bridge can represent the path that separates the dark world into the bright world.
The title Landscape with the Fall of Icarus represents the fall or failure of Icarus. The landscape is where his fall token place. Where he fall can represent that he fall in a unhealthy, dark sinful environment. Where he falls is his destination of where his supposed to die. It was his fate. His father named the land after him. The land being named after him through his father can resemble the characteristics of his behavior. The land is showing darkness and sadness and painfulness which are describing the traits of Icarus fall. The man drowning can be the legs of Icarus himself. The clouds that are covering the land can be the storm that represents Icarus’ father being anger with his son for disobeying his wishes. The sun is going down after the tragedy. The man looking to the sky can be looking at where the fallen man has come from. Also, there is a bird flying towards near the mountains. This can be Icarus’ father looking around to see where his son has gone to.
The interrelationships are between the water and the drowning man. On the opposite side the landscape the water is calm and full of brightness where the sun is reflected it’s warmth and hope against the water currents. However the water near the drowning man is experiencing heavy currents. The surrounding of the water is covered with shadows. The water changes its colors from light beautiful blue to dark, black sea. The man is drowning on the evil side of the landscape rather than the brighter side of the landscape. The location of where he drowns is almost near the city but he didn’t make it because his ego controls him and he decides not to listen to the commands of his father. He drowns near the three working men due to the fact that all three of them were outcastes of the city people. This is foreshadowing the facts that Icarus was even worthy to live as an out cast that didn’t obey the Gods but he is now force to put to death due to allowing himself to try to compare with the Gods and outstand them with his flying ability and skills.
Overall, the title and its description are showing that the moral of life is not to conceive your self higher than the Gods. Your failure will be due to your attitude towards life itself. The images resemble the stages of darkness and sadness of those who do not obey the laws of the Gods. Icarus learned the lesson of what happens you decide to listen to your ego instead of what’s right.
In Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, Bruegal paints a wide panoramic landscape. There is a large sea port; out on the water two ships of the line and four small sail boats. The ship closest to us is of a very old design, it has three masts, the front and rear masts both have sails fully opened and billowing. The center mast has no sail but there is a crow’s nest at the top. There is a man; the man wears a red shirt. Over his shirt is a green smock. He has dark colored hair and is bent over the plow. He is the most pronounced object in the painting. The smock has eight visible creases. The man steers a plow pulled by a donkey. The donkey has brown colored fur and is walking down a slope. The plow is creating trenches in the earth. There is a hill fully entrenched and ready for planting. To the left of the farmer there is a long knife of some sort. There is a Sheppard with his flock. In the Sheppard’s flock there lie fifteen white sheep. There are also two sheep that have a grey coat. By the Sheppard stands his dog. The Sheppard wears green leggings and a blue shirt. He wears a bag on his back, and is leaning on a staff staring into the sky. Both the Sheppard and his dog face a stand of trees to the left of the man plowing. Near the water there is a man fishing, He wears white tunic tied off by a length of cord. Near the man fishing there is a set of legs sticking out of the water. From the legs in the water there are feathers falling all around. The ripples have yet to form, meaning whoever it is just fell in. It must be Icarus the boy who did not heed his father’s wisdom. Icarus is between the fisherman and the biggest tall ship in the painting. To the right of the ship is a small jetty, on the jetty there are small shrubs growing, and a pointed tan rock at the very tip. The tall ship sails past this jetty. Just off the center of the painting there is a cube like stone structure. There is one entrance; it is not like the entrance to a cave. It is not round; but it is rectangular. Meaning that it was made by men, not nature. There is a city just north of the cube like structure; it is a port city, built right on the waters edge. There is a ship sailing into the harbor. To the west of the city is a cliff. It is very tall and its tip is nearly at the top of the painting. The sky is mottled blue, different shades are blended together with wisps of white to create a surreal effect. The sky is darkest in the upper left hand side. As you move to the right it brightens until all that can be seen is a yellow splotch. This is the reflection of the suns light. The sun itself is in the far back of the painting, just rising over the horizon. Below the sun is a bright spot in the water. As we move away form the spot and closer to the fisherman the water grows darker. It is darkest in the area where Icarus fell. In the distance it is just possible to make out a massive mountain, which towers over all. It may be Olympus home to the gods.
Bruegel’s art style revolved around the telling of stories through his art work. He put in many details that others would miss. But by examination we can surmise much. In the tail of Icarus three peasants see Icarus and Daedelus fly above them. They are described as a farmer, a Sheppard, and a fisherman. Bruegel depicted all three of the men in his painting. The farmer in the center, the Sheppard just beyond him, and the fisherman in the corner. None of the three men acknowledge the fall of Icarus, who can be seen in the water just after impact. There is no sign of Daedelus anywhere in the painting. The stone structure we see in the water, could very well be the maze Daedelus designed for the minotaur. Breugel also uses different colors to depict differences in his story. Where Icarus lands is very significant. The water is at it’s darkest color there, making it difficult to see him. Nearer to the city in the distance thecolros are brighter. It is possible to figure that Icarus was safe and happy in the city, but when he left he was cast into darkness and died. In the distance there is what looks like a large mountain. It is difficult to see because Bruegel blended the mountain into the background. He may have intended that this mountain be Olympus, home to the Greek Pantheon. If that is so, then the hazy mountain signifies how the gods are always there, whether or not you can see them clearly. Daedelus defied the gods and lost his son, that is part of the lesson learned in the story. Even the three peasant’s do not acknowledge Icarus’s fall. They continue there work as though it did not matter. Icarus fell from the gods grace, to help him would have meant going against the gods will.
The point of Bruegels paint was to examine both the larger and smaller details. He knew people would only see the big picture, and they would just see the pretty landscape, but he also knew that some would look closer and see the story hidden in the pigments.
The first thing that catches my eye is the scenery. It doesn’t look real, like a place I could hop on a plane and visit tomorrow. Next is the sail on the boats and the clothes the man walking down the path with little steps on it is wearing. The sky makes it seem unnatural and not real. The long path with the dead trees along it with the blue open ocean that looks like it doesn’t ever end with the glaciers in the background. It looks like that game fable for x-box where you’re in this little majestic world with old weapons and medieval people dressed strange. I really like the ship in the little harbor it makes me wants to be a pirate because you can just go on that ship and take off to wherever you want. In regards to Icarus it does fit the criteria of a mythological land and it seems that you really are bound to but only two ways to escape. Maybe the land the man with the horse is on is the island and the ship is the only way out. Unless you can fly off into the light in the background and get away. I like the way the rocks align the dirt road it seems like it was paved by people doing exactly what the man in the red shirt and grey “dress” and the horse are doing. The trees look half dead and they are dark unlike the light in the background in the sky which seems never ending and like it can just go and go until you cannot go any more. The rocks sticking out of the beautiful looking water seem as though they pose a threat to the incoming and outgoing boats into and out of the harbor. The rocks or glaciers in the background leading to the light or where it seems as thought the water goes out look white like you cannot tell what they are rocks, glaciers, or even low laying clouds. The man and the horse are headed down like through a path like they are going to a market or a different part of this majestically looking place. Or maybe its not a horse at all and it is a mule instead and the thing in front of the man looks like a wooden contraption with a little wheel and three legs with a little plow underneath. Maybe the man and the mule where working all day and they are taking the path down away from work and going home to pass the scenery. The other smaller man looks like someone that would just be standing around (just like has doing) in that fable game I wrote about earlier. The sun looks as though it’s going down and the wrinkle in the water on the horizon looks more that just a gleam of sun rays off the open ocean and maybe it’s an animal or a “god” of some sort. The sky makes it seem unnatural and not real. The long path with the dead trees along it with the blue open ocean that looks like it doesn’t ever end with the glaciers in the background. It looks like that game fable for x-box where you’re in this little majestic world with old weapons and medieval people dressed strange. I really like the ship in the little harbor it makes me wants to be a pirate because you can just go on that ship and take off to wherever you want. Both of the men on the land look as though they are really paying their own attention and minding they’re business. The man in the red shirt with the grey dress on with the wooden plow and the mule carrying the plow in front of the man, who is steering it, is minding his own business with his head down. The other man in the blue shirt with a dark vest and dark colored pants is holding a stick and leaning on it a little closer to the water. The sail on the closer boat is out and proofed out lie the wind is really ripping either that or it is low on the sail and someone on the ship may be taking it down because they are so close to land they might be trading with the townspeople like the men standing on the land. Maybe this is the sight that cirrus and his father saw from up above, or when Bruegel switches from the eyes of Icarus to focus on eh people on land who are working. The man with the plow like described from eh eyes in the sky when Icarus and his father were flying. The wind is strong like its going through he sails on the ship and the sun looks hot like it would melt the wings (its all starting to make sense now lol) and the ocean is there and never ending as if you can jus fly forever and you have to stay a middle course and not get to high or too low when life gives you lemons you need to suck it up and make lemonade. As far as the excerpt from what we read in class this looks like exactly what Burgle was describing and the sun does look hot and the further you go on the water it looks like the margin for error becomes larger too. A picture is worth a thousand words not because mar. Gallagher is making us write this about the picture but because I can actually have 1,000 words to say about a picture. The cool part about this picture is really the majestically medieval sense it has with the clothing the men are wearing and the ox carrying the plow and the ships with the old sails. It is all neat and imaginative and looks like a scene from a book. The scenery looks like it’s from an old version of a European country or like I said the game fable on x-box (highly recommended)
MarioR prd.5 In Pieter Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, Pieter Bruegel's use a great deal of detail to express Ovid’s story of the young Icarus and his un timing death, due to his own ignorant decision not to listen to his father. The painting is just a realistic piece that perfectly sets the setting of the story of Icarus. Bruegel’s bring his painting to life by using a wide variety of colors to detail his image. He use colors in way that makes you feel like you are there in person watching what is going on as it is happening. The first way that he does this is by making everything that you see in front of you more detail and dark colored than as you look farer away the image becomes less and less detail and more bright colored. The next way that he makes everything seen more realistic is by making the objects that are in front of you more bigger then the ones that are much farer away. The painter puts a lot dark colors to illustrate the death of Icarus but puts in some light colors to show life moving on.
The first thing that caught my eye was the farmer plowing his farm with what seems to me to be a donkey. The donkey is pulling the plow and it seems to be The farm is wearing a gray suspender with a red long sleeve shirt underneath. The painter painted the shirt red as a sign of death. The color red is symbolic to death, blood, and murder. The farmer seems to be forces on what his doing and nothing else. The next that caught my eye was the first ship. The ship was drawn big to because it was close it is also in motion out to sea this known because the sails are expand with wind. The next object that caught my eye was the shepherd who seems to be stirring out in to space also he does not seem to be aware of what’s happening around him like the farmer. The author put him doing this to show him staving up at the Icarus and Deadalus as if they were gods . There are 20 sheep’s that are white, 2 that are gray and 1dog the painter, puts in the sheep’s, and the dog to add to the environment. The next part of the picture that caught my eye was a island with a castle or a rock cave. I believe this to be the island that Icarus and his father were exile to. The reason that I believe this to be the island that they were banished to is because the painter went to a lot of trouble to make it look like dark unforgiving place. The next thing that caught my eye was the fading image of a beautiful city in the far up left hand corner this must have been the city that Deadalus and Icarus were banished from. Pieter Bruegel makes you believe this because he painted the city in light vibrant colors so that it feels like that city was perfect. The thing that slip my eye was the drawn of Icarus himself drowning. The only reason that I saw this man drowning is because I look up what the painting was about and it was mentioned. Next to the drowning Icarus is a men who seems to be fishing and does not noticed the men that is right in front of him is drowning. These are the three people that are mentioned in the story of Deadalus and Icarus. The next thing that capture my eye was the sun in the story it is said that icarus few up toward the sun which is why his wax wings melted but the sun is setting. The next thing that caught my eye was the a little drawn of a bird near the island that has a rock castle it is a drawn of a crow which relates to death. Another that I noticed is the if you look close next to Icarus and the fisher man there is a turtle in the water. The last then that eye noticed was how the place where Icarus is drown is the darkest place on the whole piece of paper.
The thing that vex me the most about this painting was the fact that even though it was supposed to about the story of Icarus. The title of the painting is Landscape with the Fall of Icarus c. 1558 Oil on canvas. The painter try to focus more on the landscape more then the fall Icarus. The fall of Icarus is just the inspiration for the painting it self that was why Icarus is shown but not in great detail. The story itself is what the paint was focus on more of what happen thoughtout the book rather then how icarus died. He personifies nature to give the painting a more lively feel.
Bruegel, Pieter Landscape with the Fall of Icarus c. 1558 Oil on canvas is a outstanding piece of work it gives you close up look at what the story is going on about or in other words it paints the vision that is in your head piece by piece. I think that the painter painted this painting to let people know how he saw the story.
The painting itself is basically what I saw the story as. From deadalus being banished from this incredible city that he longs for. which the painter painted perfectly because even I wanted to go there because of the beautiful colors. Also the painter made the littles things the biggest on the canvas. For example he made the farmer the shepard and the fisherman the biggest things on the canvas when they had the littlest to do with the story of Icarus. The thing that I liked the most from this painting was how the painter did not focus icarus died but rather how he lived
After maximizing the screen, the first things I had noticed was the deep sea, and the large, disproportioned man in red. The picture seems to be jumbled with other random pictures to make a whole fit for the story. I can see a man fishing, a man working the fields, and a man herding sheep. But they don't usually all work near the coast... It doesn't make much sense. A patch of grass, thick brush on the side, wheat, and city, a dungeon in the middle of no where? The rocks, the island, has a small hole in it. It's like I'm playing Zelda: The Wind Waker all over again. But no, what the site, the picture really looks like, is fable. The Xbox game fable has the same oil-like graphics, and it's story is made off of Greek myths and etc. You live in a world where you can choose to be 1. Evil or 2. Good. Or even 3. In the middle. But you believe and gods and all that stuff- There are temples and everything. And since it's an MMORPG, you can't miss them, and can visit Ra at anytime, or whoever it is. Anyways, I also liked the idea of fable because it was Greek- The tittle of this picture is The Fall of Icarus, true? The story we read in class is about the gods and etc. A boy, is taught by his father how to fly which is obviously out of the ordinary. The normal people in the story actually say, wow, they must be gods flying up in the air like that. But eventually, Icarus flies to high and is hushed by the sea. This is after his father says not too fly too high or too low. The sun can melt your wings off, and the water can engulf you. And just that happens. But isn't it strange? You can see the boys feet in the water. He fell face-first. And on top of that, no one notices. All the people who are working in the picture do not see them. They are either busy working, or are not looking in his direction. Now, people say that the gods set this up, trying to stop Icarus and his father from getting to far from being human, and too close to being a god. And that makes sense too, if you are too radical, you can hit problems. That's very true. And in this case it was the gods controlling the sun to wipe Icarus out. Although, it is strange to see that...the sun isn't directly above Icarus. The sun's rays are hitting the side of earth (from that location) first, then travels onward to Icarus; the sun's rays come from the side, not above. So it's not so much the sun that burns him, but the heat that has risen. Heat rises, and is trapped by the clouds. So he was burned, but not directly from the sun. We fail to see that right away. But nonetheless, he dies. And everything is still in motion as he is dead, you can see that in the picture. If you are working, you'll live under the sun. If you are not working and fooling off near the sun, then you will die and be drowned under the dark waters, not the bright sun. You will die the darkest of ways, at least, that is what the pictures seems to push.
In the painting, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel, the painter makes Icarus almost unnoticeable. When looking at the painting for the first time, the first thing that was brought to my attention was the ploughman. He is painted larger than the other men in the painting, and wears vibrant colors. Also, he is very concentrated and busy with his work and seems unaware or maybe careless of the man drowning behind him, who is obviously Icarus. The shepherd is also unaware of Icarus and is, in fact, resting his weight upon his crook, as Ovid explains in “The Story of Deadalus and Icarus.” It seems that he is more interested in looking up at the sky and is oblivious to Icarus‘ fall. The next thing that I saw after that was the large ship to the right of the painting. Only when noticing the ship was that I realized there was something that looked like a leg or someone drowning. That’s when I identified the leg as being Icarus drowning, when he fell into the water. After finding Icarus, I also found the fisherman towards the bottom of the painting who, like the ploughman and the shepherd, is also careless of the incident. Guessing from the water being painted with such dark colors, only at the spot where Icarus falls, Bruegel is indicating that there is something bad in that corner, or that something went wrong. Also, since Bruegel took most of the space on the canvas to focus on the ploughman, the shepherd with his sheep, and the islands, I am also guessing that maybe he viewed the fall as something unimportant. He paints the sky brightly, illuminated by the sun, giving the painting a peaceful tone rather than a sad or tragic tone. This shows that the painting is not meant to explain a tragedy that had happened. In fact, nowhere in the painting does he shows someone looking disturbingly at the man drowning. It is as if Icarus had fallen like a simple small drop of water in a huge ocean. No one can see or hear that drop of water falling from the sky into the big ocean. And that is how unimportant Icarus was in the painting. Both the ploughman and the shepherd seem to go about with their lives calmly, in a sense that nothing had happened. Even the horse was not surprised by the falling of Icarus. This demonstrates that how people react, on many occasions, with others. The ploughman has much more to do than to stop his important work, that gives him a living, to look at someone else’s downfall. The ship also, which is very close to Icarus drowning, does not stop to help or care. It continues his voyage, indicating that life goes on. I think that Brueghel meant to paint the ploughman, the shepherd, the fisherman and everything else in a sense of continuing with their lives and ignore Icarus drowning. He indicates that Icarus deserved to fall. Still, I find it strange how the ploughman is very centralized in the painting. Brueghel made it so that the ploughman is larger than everything else he painted on the canvas, so that the attention or out eyes go directly to the ploughman. He focuses on making the detailed islands and the ships. Also he paints many little sheep on the island and makes sure to paint the carefully the work that the ploughman is doing. However, the thing that I would think it to be most important is Icarus, and Brueghel does not show any concentration once so ever on Icarus. I could barely see the little leg hanging out. Still, this is probably why Brueghel did not name the painting The Fall of Icarus, but instead he named it Landscape With The Fall of Icarus. The key word connecting both occasions is “with” concluding that this is why Brueghel focuses so much on the landscape, making Icarus a minor point. The title means that Icarus’ fall is in the landscape, so it is as if the landscape were more important. When looking closer within the painting, I noticed two small black birds flying around. They seem to be flying away from the place where Icarus is drowning, so my guess is that they are ignoring Icarus as well. Also, looking even closer towards where the fisherman is, right at the bottom of Icarus drowning, I see a bird-like creature. He, like every other thing on the painting, seems to be paying no attention to the fall of Icarus. Not even the sheep are aware of the happening. Brueghel painted everything so tranquil and peaceful with nice warm colors, that it does not seem like much drama is happening. From the title or from reading the poem, we would think that Icarus’ falling would be the main part on the painting. Yet it isn’t. I think that maybe the message Brueghel is trying to send is that things sometimes have to happen and you have to let them go. After reading the poem, I realized that it is teaching us a lesson. The only reason Icarus fell was because he did not follow his father’s advice. This is why Brueghel paints Icarus with no importance in the painting. It indicates that it was necessary for him to fall and that there was meant be no help available to Icarus. The area in the sea where he is drowning is painted with dark colors, and no one is looking at him dying. Brueghel, like Ovid in the poem, is also teaching a lesson. When we don’t make the right choices, we have to end up dealing with the consequences, and sometimes other people can’t help us and end up having to move on with their lives. In Icarus’ case in the painting, neither the ploughman, the shepherd, the fisherman or the ship could help him because it was part of his consequence of no obeying his father.
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