Week 25 - Culture Is Not Just For Dogs?

Look at these two contemporary images from the 1560's.... 450 years ago. That is something like 20 generations past. Look at the centre of both images. Something is going on out of context. Can you see what it is? The message is that miracles go on all about us, our daily life continues and we miss the important events.

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LINK 2


Explanation: Procession to Calvary, Pieter Bruegel, 1564. oil on panel 124x170cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum - This panoramic biblical scene is one of the most perfect depictions of humanity's mocking cruelty, insensitivity, and capacity for love. The scene set in a incredibly beautiful and haunting landscape is filled with as much laughter as it is terror. The clouds give the impression that God is just over the horizon and is not at all pleased with humanity. The notion that life goes on even in the face of brutality and terror makes this scene all the more compelling. Christ carries the cross in the centre whilst Mary weeps in the foreground. The soldiers gather in the top right. The crow waits for death (top right). So look again....


Explanation: The Census at Bethlehem, Pieter Bruegel, 1566 - Oil on oak, 116 x 164 cm. Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels - It is Christmas. A cozy winter tableau of an average village in Brabant. The inn is crowded. In mid-foreground, a woman seated on an ass, in the company of a man with a saw on his shoulder leading an ox – Mary and Joseph, of course, on their way to Bethlehem. In the exact centre of the picture is the Wheel of Time...


..if you don't look you don't see.

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DETAIL 2