''The Hunters in the Snow'' ( nl, Jagers in de Sneeuw), also known as ''The Return of the Hunters'', is a 1565 oil-on-wood painting by

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genr ...

. The

Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. From the last years of the 15th century, its Renaissance spread around Europe. Called the Northern Renaissance because it occurred north of the Italian Renais ...

work is one of a series of works, five of which still survive, that depict different times of the year. The painting is in the collection of the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. This scene is set in the depths of winter during December/January.

Background and origins

''The Hunters in the Snow'', and the series to which it belongs, are in the medieval and early Renaissance tradition of the

Labours of the Months The term Labours of the Months refers to cycles in Medieval and early Renaissance art depicting in twelve scenes the rural activities that commonly took place in the months of the year. They are often linked to the signs of the Zodiac, and are ...

: depictions of various rural activities and work understood by a spectator in Breugel's time as representing the different months or times of the year.

Description and composition

The painting shows a wintry scene in which three hunters are returning from an expedition accompanied by their dogs. By appearances the outing was not successful; the hunters appear to trudge wearily, and the dogs appear downtrodden and miserable. One man carries the "meager corpse of a

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

" illustrating the paucity of the hunt. In front of the hunters in the snow are the footprints of a rabbit or hare—which has escaped or been missed by the hunters. The overall visual impression is one of a calm, cold, overcast day; the colors are muted whites and grays, the trees are bare of leaves, and wood smoke hangs in the air. Several adults and a child prepare food at an inn with an outside fire. Of interest are the jagged mountain peaks which do not exist in Belgium or Holland. The painting prominently depicts crows sitting in the denuded trees and a magpie flies in the upper centre of the scene. Bruegel sometimes uses these two species of birds to indicate an ill-omen as in Dutch culture magpies are associated with the Devil. The landscape itself is a flat-bottomed valley (a river meanders through it) with jagged peaks visible on the far side. A

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

is seen with its wheel frozen stiff. In the distance, figures

ice skate Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skates ...

, play

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

(before it became an organized sport), and play eisstock (similar to

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

) on a frozen lake; they are rendered as silhouettes.

Interpretation and reception

The 1560s was a time of religious revolution in the Netherlands, and Bruegel (and possibly his patron) may be attempting to portray an ideal of what country life used to be or what they wish it to be. Writing in the "opinion" section of ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'', art historian

Martin Kemp Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in ''EastEnders''. He is the younger brother of Gary Kemp, who is also a ...

points out that

Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

s are popular subjects for

Christmas cards A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during t ...

and states that "probably no 'secular' subject is more popular than ... ''Hunters in the Snow''". The painting is the subject of modernist poet

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

's ekphrastic poem "The Hunter in The Snow". ''Hunters in the Snow'' is used extensively in Russian director

Andrei Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...

's films ''

Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...

'' (1972) and '' The Mirror'' (1974), and in

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...

's 2011 film ''

Melancholia Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly dep ...

''. It appears also in

Alain Tanner Alain Tanner (6 December 1929 – 11 September 2022) was a Swiss film director. Early years and education Tanner was born in Geneva, and studied economics at the University of Geneva. In 1951, he joined the film club which Claude Goretta had re ...

's film ''

Dans la ville blanche ''In the White City'' (french: Dans la ville blanche) is a 1983 Swiss drama film directed by Alain Tanner. It was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival. The film was selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language ...

'' (1983). It was an inspiration for

Roy Andersson Roy Arne Lennart Andersson (born 31 March 1943) is a Swedish film director, best known for ''A Swedish Love Story'' (1970), '' About Endlessness'' (2019) and his "Living trilogy," which includes '' Songs from the Second Floor'' (2000), '' You, ...

's 2014 film ''

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence ''A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence'' ( sv, En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron) is a 2014 internationally co-produced black comedy-drama film written and directed by Roy Andersson. It is the third installment in ...

'', is the basis for the first frame of

Abbas Kiarostami Abbas Kiarostami ( fa, عباس کیارستمی ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of ...

's '' 24 Frames'' (2017), and was a topic of the 1980 television series ''

100 Great Paintings ''100 Great Paintings'' is a British television series broadcast in 1980 on BBC 2, devised by Edwin Mullins.http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/11652 13 January 2007 He chose 20 thematic groups, such as war, the ...

''. The surviving ''Months of the Year cycle'' are: File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Hunters in the Snow (Winter) - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Hunters in the Snow'', Dec-Jan File:Pieter Bruegel de Oude - De sombere dag (vroege voorjaar).jpg, ''

The Gloomy Day ''The Gloomy Day'' is an oil on wood painting by Pieter Bruegel in 1565. The painting is one in a series of six works, five of which are still extant, that depict different times of the year. The painting is currently in the collection of the K ...

'', Feb-Mar File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Spring, 1565 - Google Art Project.jpg, left, ''Spring'', 1565, a drawing made to be engraved. It was apparently never painted by Bruegel himself, but after his death came dozens of versions in paint by his son and others. File:Die Heuernte.jpg, ''

The Hay Harvest ''The Hay Harvest'' (also known as ''Haymaking''), is an oil painting on wood panel by Pieter Bruegel (c. 1525–1569), executed in 1565. The most important of the Lobkowicz family's Northern pictures, it was hung in the dining room of the Antwe ...

'', June–July File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder- The Harvesters - Google Art Project.jpg, '' The Harvesters'', Aug-Sept File:Pieter Bruegel (I) - The Return of the Herd (1565).jpg, ''

The Return of the Herd ''The Return of the Herd'' is an oil on wood painting by Pieter Bruegel in 1565. The painting is one in a series of six works (High Springtime is presumed lost) that depict different seasons. The painting is currently in the collection of the Ku ...

'', Oct-Nov

References

Kunsthistorisches Museum website

''Hunters in the snow'' painting on Google Art Project

Background and origins

Description and composition

Interpretation and reception

References

Further reading