Peasant and Birdnester. The Peasant and the Nest Robber is an oil-on-panel painting by the Netherlandish Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painted in 1568.
It is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. This painting was in the collections of since 1569; passed on to the imperial collection, it became part of those of the Kunsthistorisches Museum at its inauguration.
Painted the year before the artist's death, this painting, like other late works such as The Land of Cockaigne, The Peasant Dance, and The Peasant Wedding, is dominated by monumental figures. Immediately after his return from Italy, Bruegel showed no apparent interest in Italian figure types and compositions, reverting to the Antwerp tradition in which he had been trained.
However, in these late works he shows that his study of Italian painting had taken root: these figures demonstrate his knowledge of Italian art and in particular the art of Michelangelo. This unusual subject apparently illustrates a Netherlandish proverb: Dije den nest Weet dijen weeten, dijen Roft dij heeten He who knows where the nest is, has the knowledge, he who robs, has the nest.
The painting presents a moralising contrast between the active, wicked individual and the passive man who is virtuous in spite of adversity And lastly it could be suggested that the pointing man is making judgement on the robber whilst not aware that he is nearly stepping int
It is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. This painting was in the collections of since 1569; passed on to the imperial collection, it became part of those of the Kunsthistorisches Museum at its inauguration.
Painted the year before the artist's death, this painting, like other late works such as The Land of Cockaigne, The Peasant Dance, and The Peasant Wedding, is dominated by monumental figures. Immediately after his return from Italy, Bruegel showed no apparent interest in Italian figure types and compositions, reverting to the Antwerp tradition in which he had been trained.
However, in these late works he shows that his study of Italian painting had taken root: these figures demonstrate his knowledge of Italian art and in particular the art of Michelangelo. This unusual subject apparently illustrates a Netherlandish proverb: Dije den nest Weet dijen weeten, dijen Roft dij heeten He who knows where the nest is, has the knowledge, he who robs, has the nest.
The painting presents a moralising contrast between the active, wicked individual and the passive man who is virtuous in spite of adversity And lastly it could be suggested that the pointing man is making judgement on the robber whilst not aware that he is nearly stepping int
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