"Tower of Babel", 1st version. 1564. Size 60x75 cm. Rotterdam, Boijmans van Beuningen Museum.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder or Bruegel was a renowned Flemish painter best known for his paintings of Flemish landscapes and peasant scenes. He was born in 1525 (the exact date is unknown), presumably in the city of Breda (Netherlands province). He died in 1569 in Brussels. Hieronymus Bosch had a great influence on all the art of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. In 1559, he removed the h from his last name and began to sign his paintings under the name Bruegel.
The legend of the tower seemed to attract the artist: he dedicated three works to it. The earliest of these has not survived. The picture is based on a plot from the First Book of Moses about the construction of the Tower of Babel, which was conceived by people in order to reach the top of the sky with its top: “Let us build ourselves a city and a tower as high as heaven.” To subdue their pride, God confused their languages so that they could no longer understand each other and scattered them throughout the earth, so the building was not completed.
"Tower of Babel", 2nd version. 1564. Size 114 x 155 cm. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum. Brueghel, unlike his predecessors, who depicted the tower as rectangular, makes the grandiose stepped building round, emphasizing the motif of arches. However, it is by no means the similarity of the Brueghel tower with the Colosseum that strikes the viewer first of all. A friend of the artist, the geographer Abraham Ortelius, said of Brueghel:
"he wrote a lot of things about which it was thought impossible to convey." The words of Ortelius can be fully attributed to the picture from Rotterdam: the artist depicted not just a high powerful tower - its scale is transcendent, incomparable to human, it surpasses all conceivable standards. The tower "with its head to heaven" rises above the clouds and, in comparison with the surrounding landscape - the city, the harbor, the hills - seems to be some kind of blasphemously huge. It tramples with its volumes the proportionality of the earthly way of life, violates the divine harmony. But there is no harmony in the tower itself.
It seems that the builders spoke to each other in different languages from the very beginning of the work: otherwise, why did they erect arches and windows above them in all sorts of ways? Even in the lower tiers, neighboring cells differ from each other, and the higher the tower, the more noticeable the discord. And on the transcendental peak, complete chaos reigns.
"Construction of the Tower of Babel". Copy of a lost original. The painting was painted after 1563. Size 49 x 66 cm. Siena, National Pinakothek. In Brueghel's interpretation, the Lord's punishment - the confusion of languages - did not overtake people overnight; misunderstanding was inherent in the builders from the very beginning, but still did not interfere with the work until its degree reached some critical limit. The Tower of Babel in this painting by Brueghel will never be completed. When looking at it, one recalls an expressive word from religious and philosophical treatises: God-forsakenness.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder is known as a Dutch painter. In his works, Peter preferred to depict genre scenes and landscapes, while ignoring portrait images.
“Tower of Babel” is one of the famous works of Brueghel the Elder, based on the book of Moses. However, Peter painted not one picture with a similar plot, but three. At the moment, only two works have survived, both are called the "Tower of Babel" and dated 1563, but they parted ways. The first canvas is kept in Vienna at the Museum of Art, and the second in Rotterdam at the Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum.
As conceived by the creator of the picture, they were based on biblical history. She talked about the times when all people spoke the same language. At one point, they decided to build a tower to climb as high as possible. Then God decided to prevent people by confusing their languages. After that, people stopped understanding each other, and the construction of the great tower became impossible.
However, according to Peter's idea, the construction was not successful due to the fault of the workers themselves. The pictures show that parts of the structure do not create a coherent composition: windows and arches of different sizes, the overall dimensions are not respected, the tiers are built crookedly, in some places the tower began to collapse on its own, the whole structure is crooked towards the nearest settlement.
The first painting, which is now kept in Vienna, looks bright and welcoming, while the second work is filled with dark colors with a gloomy atmosphere. If compared in detail, then both pictures display a large-scale building, which at first glance seems reliable and strong, but upon closer study, all the errors in construction become visible.
Brueghel the Elder depicted a seven-story tower, and the eighth is in the process of being built. The entire structure is surrounded by lifts, building ladders, scaffolding, cranes. On one side of the Tower of Babel there is a seaport, even moored ships are visible, on the other side there is a city with various buildings.
There are people on both canvases, but the artist depicted them in different ways. In the light painting, which is now housed in the Museum of Art, the people are more pronounced and visible, while in the painting from Rotterdam, the human figures almost fade away against the backdrop of the scale of the tower.
The "Tower of Babel" is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Brueghel was inspired by the Colosseum in Rome. Initially, it was perceived as a symbol of the rejection of Christianity, but the creator himself considered the Colosseum a place of rejection of the Protestants, to whom he referred himself. Peter reinforces his attitude to the Catholic faith with a building in the Tower of Babel - it looks like the castle of the Holy Angel in Rome, where the popes once gathered.
- Three paintings have survived to this day, one of which was destroyed. However, some scholars believe that the Tower of Babel series had more canvases with the same type of plot.
- In the film "The Lord of the Rings" an allusion is used to the "Tower of Babel" - the city of Minas Tirith.
- In the pictures, the construction is arranged in stages: manual labor, the use of poles to move the plates, blocks, lifts of varying degrees of power. By this, Peter showed the stages of the development of construction, which made great strides forward.
Among all the works of world fine art, the painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder "The Tower of Babel" occupies a special place. Political satire, anti-Catholic position - the artist encoded a lot of symbols in the picture on a popular biblical theme.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder created his famous painting in 1563. It is known that the artist painted at least one more painting on the same subject. True, it is much smaller in size than the first one, and it is written in darker colors.
The artist based the painting on a biblical story about the origin of different languages and peoples. According to legend, after the Great Flood, the descendants of Noah settled in the land of Shinar. But they did not live in peace, and people decided to build a tower so high that it reached the heavens to God. The Almighty was against people considering themselves equal to Him, so he made everyone speak different languages. As a result, no one could understand each other, from this the construction of the Tower of Babel stopped.
There are many small details in the picture. If you pay attention to the lower left corner, you can see a small group of people there. It is King Nimrod and his retinue approaching, and the rest fall on their faces. According to legend, it was he who led the construction of the Tower of Babel.
Researchers believe that King Nimrod is the personification of the despot King Charles V of the Habsburgs. Representatives of this dynasty ruled in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc. But after Charles V abdicated the crown, the whole empire slowly but surely began to disintegrate.
Likewise with the tower. The artist himself has repeatedly focused on the fact that if the asymmetric tilting Tower of Babel had been built wisely and no mistakes had been made, then the building would have been completed, and would not begin to collapse.
It is curious, but the shores in the picture are more reminiscent not of Mesopotamia, but of Holland, native to the artist. The rapid urbanization of Antwerp has led to the city being flooded with people of different faiths. They were Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans and many others. They were no longer united by one faith. Many art historians interpret this approach as a mockery of the Catholic Church, which no longer controlled everyone around. In fact, the cities became the real disunited "Towers of Babel".
"Tower of Babel" is a famous painting by the painter Pieter Brueghel. The artist created at least two paintings on this subject.
Plot
The picture is based on a plot from the First Book of Moses about the construction of the Tower of Babel, which was conceived by people in order to reach its top of the sky: “ Let us build ourselves a city and a tower as high as the heavens". To subdue their pride, God confused their languages so that they could no longer understand each other and scattered them throughout the earth, so the building was not completed. The moral of this picture is the frailty of everything earthly and the futility of the aspirations of mortals to compare with the Lord.
Tower of Babel (Vienna)
Bruegel's Tower of Babel fully corresponds to the traditions of the picturesque depiction of this biblical parable: there is an amazing scale of construction, the presence of a huge number of people and construction equipment. It is known that in the city of Brueghel he visited Rome. In his "Tower of Babel" the Roman Colosseum is easily recognizable, with its typical features of Roman architecture: prominent columns, horizontal tiers and double arches. Seven floors of the tower have already been built one way or another, the eighth floor is being erected. The tower is surrounded by construction barracks, cranes, lifts used in those days, ladders and scaffolding. At the foot of the tower is a city with a busy port. The area where the Tower of Babel is being built is very reminiscent of the Netherlands with its plains and sea.
The people depicted in the picture - workers, masons - seem very small and resemble ants with their zeal. Much larger than the figure of Nimrod, the legendary conqueror of Babylon in the 2nd millennium BC, inspecting the construction site. e., traditionally considered the leader of the construction of the tower, and his retinue in the lower left corner of the picture. The low bow of the masons to Nimrod in an oriental manner is a tribute to the origin of the parable.
It is interesting that, according to Bruegel, the failure that befell such a “large-scale project” is not due to sudden language barriers, but to mistakes made during the construction process. At first glance, the huge building seems solid enough, but upon closer inspection, it is clear that all the tiers are laid unevenly, the lower floors are either unfinished or are already collapsing, the building itself is tilting towards the city, and the prospects for the entire project are very sad.
Tower of Babel (Rotterdam)
|
|
| Pieter Brueghel the Elder | |
| Tower of Babel (Rotterdam). around 1563 | |
| Wood, Oil . 60 × 74.5 cm | |
| Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam | |
Presumably the same year, the smaller painting from the Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum, the so-called “ Small Tower of Babel". Art historians do not have a common opinion about whether this picture was written a little later or a little earlier than the Great Tower of Babel. Unlike the "Great Tower of Babel", the picture is made in dark colors and looks rather gloomy.
- An even smaller version of the "Tower of Babel" is in the Dresden Art Gallery. Perhaps Brueghel wrote more copies of the popular story, which have not survived to our time. So, for example, in the guarantees of the Antwerp merchant Niklaesa Yonghelinka, dated 1565, another "Tower of Babel" by Brueghel is mentioned.
- An allusion to Brueghel's Tower of Babel is the depiction of the city of Minas Tirith in the film The Lord of the Rings.
- The painting "Tower of Babel (Rotterdam)" serves as the cover of the album "Gorgorod" by Russian rapper Oxxxymiron.
Write a review on the article "Tower of Babel (painting)"
Links
Literature
|
||||||||||||||||||
An excerpt characterizing the Tower of Babel (painting)
The next day, at 8 o'clock in the morning, Pierre and Nesvitsky arrived at the Sokolnitsky forest and found Dolokhov, Denisov and Rostov there. Pierre looked like a man preoccupied with some considerations that had nothing to do with the upcoming business. His haggard face was yellow. He apparently didn't sleep that night. He absentmindedly looked around him and grimaced, as if from a bright sun. Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, in which after a sleepless night there was no longer the slightest doubt, and the innocence of Dolokhov, who had no reason to protect the honor of a stranger to him. “Perhaps I would have done the same in his place,” thought Pierre. Even I probably would have done the same; why this duel, this murder? Either I will kill him, or he will hit me in the head, in the elbow, in the knee. Get out of here, run away, bury yourself somewhere, ”it occurred to him. But precisely in those moments when such thoughts came to him. with a particularly calm and absent-minded air that inspired respect in those who looked at him, he asked: “Is it soon, and is it ready?”When everything was ready, the sabers were stuck in the snow, meaning a barrier to which it was necessary to converge, and the pistols were loaded, Nesvitsky approached Pierre.
“I would not have fulfilled my duty, Count,” he said in a timid voice, “and would not have justified the trust and honor that you have done me by choosing me as your second, if I had not said at this important moment, a very important moment, you the whole truth. I believe that this case does not have enough reasons, and that it is not worth shedding blood for it ... You were wrong, not quite right, you got excited ...
“Oh yes, terribly stupid ...” said Pierre.
“So let me convey your regret, and I am sure that our opponents will agree to accept your apology,” said Nesvitsky (as well as other participants in the case and like everyone else in such cases, still not believing that it would come to a real duel) . “You know, Count, it is much nobler to admit one’s mistake than to bring the matter to the point of irreparable. There was no resentment on either side. Let me talk...
- No, what is there to talk about! - said Pierre, - all the same ... Is that ready? he added. “Just tell me how to go where, and where to shoot?” he said, smiling unnaturally meekly. - He picked up a pistol, began to ask about the method of descent, since he still did not hold a pistol in his hands, which he did not want to admit. “Oh yes, that’s right, I know, I just forgot,” he said.
“No apologies, nothing decisive,” Dolokhov said to Denisov, who, for his part, also made an attempt at reconciliation, and also approached the appointed place.
The place for the duel was chosen about 80 paces from the road where the sledges were left, in a small clearing of a pine forest, covered with snow that had melted from the last days of thaw. The opponents stood 40 paces apart, at the edges of the clearing. The seconds, measuring their steps, made imprints in the wet, deep snow, traces from the place where they stood to the sabers of Nesvitsky and Denisov, which meant a barrier and were stuck in 10 steps from each other. The thaw and fog continued; nothing was visible for 40 steps. For about three minutes everything was already ready, and yet they hesitated to start, everyone was silent.
- Well, start! Dolokhov said.
“Well,” said Pierre, still smiling. - It was getting scary. It was obvious that the deed, which had begun so easily, could no longer be prevented by anything, that it proceeded by itself, already independently of the will of the people, and had to be accomplished. Denisov was the first to come forward to the barrier and proclaimed:
- Since the "opponents" refused to "imitate", wouldn't you like to start: take pistols and, according to the word t "and begin to converge.
- G ... "az! Two! T" and! ... - Denisov shouted angrily and stepped aside. Both walked along the trodden paths closer and closer, recognizing each other in the fog. The opponents had the right, converging to the barrier, to shoot whenever they wanted. Dolokhov walked slowly, without raising his pistol, peering with his light, shining, blue eyes into the face of his opponent. His mouth, as always, had a semblance of a smile on it.
- So when I want - I can shoot! - said Pierre, at the word three, he went forward with quick steps, straying from the beaten path and walking on solid snow. Pierre held the pistol, stretching his right hand forward, apparently afraid of lest he kill himself with this pistol. He diligently put his left hand back, because he wanted to support his right hand with it, but he knew that this was impossible. After walking six paces and straying off the path into the snow, Pierre looked around at his feet, again quickly looked at Dolokhov, and pulling his finger, as he had been taught, fired. Not expecting such a strong sound, Pierre flinched at his shot, then smiled at his own impression and stopped. The smoke, especially thick from the fog, prevented him from seeing at first; but the other shot he was waiting for did not come. Only Dolokhov's hurried steps were heard, and his figure appeared from behind the smoke. With one hand he held on to his left side, with the other he clutched the lowered pistol. His face was pale. Rostov ran up and said something to him.
Art of the Netherlands 16th century
The Tower of Babel is a famous painting by Pieter Brueghel. The artist created several paintings on this plot. This work is based on the biblical allegory about human pride. At the same time, Brueghel's painting, in its grandiose and at the same time poetic form, is imbued with a sense of life. It is in the countless figures of builders, in the movement of carts, in the landscape (especially in the image of the sea of roofs spreading on the sides of the tower - small, standing apart and at the same time closely next to each other, shimmering in gentle tones). It is characteristic that in a painting painted earlier on the same plot (“The Small Tower of Babel”; Rotterdam), the tower completely suppressed the human principle. Here Brueghel not only avoids such an effect, but goes further - he, for whom nature was incomparably more beautiful than man, is now looking for a human element in it.
The picture is based on a plot from the First Book of Moses about the construction of the Tower of Babel, which was conceived by people in order to reach the top of the sky with its top: “Let us build ourselves a city and a tower as high as heaven.” To subdue their pride, God confused their languages so that they could no longer understand each other and scattered them throughout the earth, so the building was not completed. The moral of this picture is the frailty of everything earthly and the futility of the aspirations of mortals to compare with the Lord. Brueghel's Tower of Babel fully corresponds to the traditions of the picturesque depiction of this biblical parable: there is an amazing scale of construction, the presence of a huge number of people and construction equipment.
It is known that in 1553 Brueghel visited Rome. In the painting "The Tower of Babel" by Pieter Brueghel, the Roman Colosseum is easily recognizable with its typical features of Roman architecture: protruding columns, horizontal tiers and double arches. Seven floors of the tower have already been built one way or another, the eighth floor is being erected. The Tower of Babel is surrounded by construction barracks, cranes, hoists used in those days, ladders and scaffolding. At the foot of the tower is a city with a busy port. The area where the Tower of Babel is being built is very reminiscent of the Netherlands with its plains and sea. The people depicted in the picture - workers, masons - seem very small and resemble ants with their zeal.
Much larger than the figure of Nimrod, the legendary conqueror of Babylon in the 2nd millennium BC, who was traditionally considered the leader of the construction of the Tower of Babel, and his retinue in the lower left corner of the picture, inspecting the construction site. The low bow of the masons to Nimrod in an oriental manner is a tribute to the origin of the parable. It is interesting that, according to Bruegel, the failure that befell such a “large-scale project” is not due to sudden language barriers, but to mistakes made during the construction process. At first glance, the huge building seems solid enough, but upon closer inspection, it is clear that all the tiers are laid unevenly, the lower floors are either unfinished or are already collapsing, the building itself is tilting towards the city, and the prospects for the entire project are very sad.
