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Although
Bruegel was famous in his own lifetime, the
archaic appearance of much of his imagery and
his disinclination to adopt the idealized style
of portraiture developed by the Italian Renaissance
artists had, at least in sophisticated circles,
an adverse effect on his reputation both during
his lifetime and after his death. In his paintings
eyes are reduced to round holes, heads resemble
footballs, bodies look like punched sacks of
flour and clothing is nearly always generalised.
This lack of emphasis on fine detail enables
more stress to be placed on the silhouette of
the forms, and herein are found some of his
most characteristic and telling effects. The
flat patterns formed by the outline of the figures
are strikingly evident in such works as Hunters
in the Snow, where the stunning visual impact
of the striding figures, the dogs and the receding
tree-trunks has earned the artist justifiable
fame. Since his works did not conform to the
aesthetic theories of the time, the early art
historians were inclined to disregard him and
indeed there appears to have been little serious
academic study of his work until the 20th century.
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