Philosophy Science Psychology Society Culture

The Wedding Dance (1566) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Courtesy the Detroit Institute of Arts/Wikipedia

Why European artists shifted their focus from power to peasants in the 16th century

Name: Why European artists shifted their focus from power to peasants in the 16th century | Aeon Videos
Uploaded: 2023-08-03
Duration: 5 min
Description: How economic, political and religious upheavals in the 16th century left their marks on the canvases of European painters

In the 16th century, Western art made a distinct shift from religious imagery and portraits of nobility to scenes of everyday life. So why did artists pivot from venerating powerful people and institutions to images of peasants engaged in unremarkable activities like walking, dancing, working and eating? In this video, Evan Puschak (aka the Nerdwriter) takes a brief dive into the economic, religious, cultural and geopolitical forces that led to this aesthetic transformation. In particular, he focuses on the work of the Dutch and Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, whose images of peasant life evolved from satirical and moralising to observational and nonjudgmental over the course of his career.

Video by The Nerdwriter

3 August 2023