Pieter Bruegel the Elder
We present today's painting thanks to Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna where now you can visit the world's first ever major monograph of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. About half of all the extant works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder are on show there. It's a must see for all art lovers–but if you can't be in Vienna, today you can see him in DailyArt :)
Bruegel painted this painting, traditionally called The Peasant and the Nest Robber, in 1568, the year before his death. In the foreground of the picture a young man – is he really a peasant? – faces the viewer at close proximity. The large figure, typical of Bruegel’s late work, points his extended index figure vaguely in the direction of a youth, who has acrobatically climbed an oak tree to rob a bird’s nest. The nest robber already holds two of the three birds in his left hand. The posture of the man in the foreground and the short pointed stick in his right hand suggest a poacher, although his clothing conforms to the Bruegel peasant type. His facial expression, with its sidelong glance, is characterized by satisfied simple-mindedness, feigned innocence, and embarrassment. He thus gives the impression of having been caught in the act. Both protagonists have gone astray from a path at the right that leads from behind the group of trees at the left to the farmstead in the background.
Check also here for hidden stories and meanings in Pieter Bruegel's Hunters in the Snow!