Hunters in The Snow by Brueghel 65cm x 110cm

This tapestry is from the Renaissance painting by Peter Brueghel (Bruegel) the elder. A Flemish painter and print maker,he painted this winter landscape in 1565. It shows evidence of the harsh winters during the "little ice age" of the period.
This is one of six panels painted by the artist for the suburban Antwerp home of the wealthy merchant Niclaes Jongelinck, one of the artist's most enthusiastic patrons. The recurring theme of these landscapes is that of man submitting to the laws of nature. This winter scene is probably the most important of all European paintings representing winter. There is no lively colour in the scene, even the sky seems to be made of ice.
Jongelinck owned no less than sixteen of Bruegel's works. The series, which represented the seasons or times of the year, included six works, five of which survive. The other four are: The Gloomy Day, The Return of the Herd, The Harvesters (all Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), and Haymaking (Lobkowicz Collections, Prague).

You may also be interested in our full range of Renaissance Tapestries.