Son of Pieter the Elder, brother of Pieter the Younger, and father of Jan the Younger, collaborator with Rubens and others in some of the finest paintings of the 16th-17th centuries.
Brueghel
One for sorrow, two for joy, according to the rhyme. Magpies play cameo roles in several major paintings, as shown here.
Boudin’s beach paintings heralding Impressionism, the turn of the plough, the flax harvest, stave churches, an early mermaid, Turner’s white rabbit, and more.
Ploughing, sowing, weeding, calving and lambing, the hay harvest, sheep shearing, the grain harvest, fruit harvests, then back again to the start.
Sheep were the best mobile source of dung, and used to fertilise the soil used to raise crops such as staple cereals, wheat and rye. They also provided fleeces to generate the wool trade.
Meleager is killed by his own mother in a strange way, then Ovid cuts to a feast thrown by the river god Achelous to entertain Theseus and others.
Daedalus and son Icarus try to escape the island of Crete by flying with artificial wings. Icarus flies too close to the sun, melting the wax holding his wings together, and drowns.
Myths of Perseus and Atlas, Philemon and Baucis, and the peasants of Lycia teach the ancient code of hospitality to strangers.
Was ripe wheat cut using a sickle, hook, or scythe? Paintings from 1565 to 1890 show a preference for scythes when men were available.
Preparing the soil to deliver its best yields using a mould-board or turning plough, pulled by a team of oxen, helps the soil drain and breaks it up into a fine tilth ready for sowing.
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