Into the white
‘In Hunters in the Snow, the glaciers have reached the villages around Antwerp. Bruegel’s prophecy is accurate. The climate was changing dramatically and dangerously, although in the opposite direction from today’s impending crisis. The world was getting colder. Temperatures dropped globally in the Renaissance, so severely that climatologists call the era from 1400 to 1850 the Little Ice Age. The winter of 1565 was one of the first when everyone could see something had changed. But what was to be done?’
Read the whole article from The Guardian Into the white.pdf
H’m, as the temperatures drop, strange affinities with winter begin to emerge.
A colleague teacher was curious to know how big the picture really is. Those Old Masters can be shockingly small, but artists were still capable of executing tiniest details within relatively small canvases. This one is of decent size, like most by Breugel, 117cm x 162cm, and his depiction of winter has an enormous breadth. It reads like a 16th-century documentary, yet manages to bridge the harsh vision of the past and our contemporary nostalgia for the pastoral life. I’m happy to use this word, pastoral, here, since it originally came from a clever student of mine, axel, when he was shown the picture.
The Guardian article is another masterpiece, of quality journalism, very informative and inspiring. Suddenly, the whole world gets into a new perspective. History, climatology, art, economy, technology, big ideas and human dreams, all reconciled in one little jewel of writing.
Snow seen as a parable of the human life
When snowflakes cover the earth, they gradually form a smooth white carpet. So clean is the soul of a newborn. As time passes by, the snow matures. So does man. The character and appearance change. Due to various conditions, man is to put up fights. Powerless, he either adopts or admits his defeat. Like with a new snowfall, there is a chance for man to improve. During the winter there are plenty of such opportunities. It is only up to man whether he makes use of them. The grey dirty snow is covered with the white one. Sins are forgiven. After a certain period of time, the snow melts. It turns into water – the roots of his existence. So fine is human life.