The Easel

Bruegel as cinema

Despite its pretty contrasting of black trees against white snow, Bruegel’s masterpiece The Hunters portrays the bitter suffering of winter. Its mix of “longing and horror” has caught the attention of film directors. Film, like the painting, can deploy details that delight the eye yet leave the viewer with a tumult of emotion. However, no film has matched the painting’s ability to create a “sense of failure, of the lost meaning floating just out of reach”.