Art Analysis: The Census at Bethlehem
A visual and written analysis of Peter Breugel the Elder's painting.
This analysis was originally written and formatted for Twitter. Click the link HERE to read the original Twitter Thread.
Did you know they used to play "Where's Waldo?" in Christmas biblical scenes?
In the painting "The Census at Bethlehem," the artist (Pieter Breugel the Elder) intertwined 3 concepts:
Bustling life in the Netherlands on a snowy day
Townspeople registering for the census
Joseph and a very pregnant virgin Mary arrive at Bethlehem
At first glance, this town is filled with seemingly random daily activity... just townspeople captured in action.
But each little scene is carefully placed within an invisible structure: Two-point perspective
Our eyes follow these invisible perspective lines across the painting
We (the viewers) are elevated, maybe looking out a 2nd floor window, investigating the crowd below and gazing at the town and natural landscape beyond.
An invisible view corridor moves our eyes from the crowd in the foreground (FG) to the ruins in the background (BG):
The crowd in the foreground is anxiously waiting to register per Augustus's order. The butcher is doing the unspeakable to a pig below. People who didn't have money payed taxes with whatever means necessary.
This symbolizes how the people were bled dry by excessive taxes.
What's up with the ruins in the back?
Another symbol representing the decline of paganism as a new religion enters the world... in the foreground of this painting... * hint * hint *
Wait, have you found Mary yet?
She's hiding in plain sight.
See that bull in the foreground, staring at us while creeping behind the donkey rider?
Well... the donkey rider is MARY, arriving in "Bethlehem" so they can register for the Census!
Joseph is the guy ahead of her with the big sword.
Finally, there's serene color harmony: muted yellows, reds, greens and blues.
Everyone blends together, creating that "Where's Waldo?" effect.
Color harmony is combining colors based on their relationships within the color wheel. Here we have "triadic" & "split-complementary."
What else do you see in this painting? Thanks for reading! Follow for more threads like this.
Big thanks to all who voted for this holiday-themed painting in my newsletter <3
Happy Holidays!
