Bosch, Bruegel, and Life

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

"About suffering they were never wrong, The old masters: how well they understood Its human position: how it takes place While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along." from W.H. Auden, “Musée des Beaux Arts” (1938) Is it true? Did the old masters—or some of them—have special insight about suffering and other truths of daily life? What could their representations of such things have meant to their contemporaries? And what can they mean to us? This seminar investigates the work and careers of two of the most original and influential artists of the Renaissance: Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516) and Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c.1525-1569). Although they worked in different generations and cities in the Netherlands, they have often been regarded in light of each other; Bruegel was even referred to as the “second Bosch” in his own time. Both probed humanity, morality, faith, daily life, and the world itself with unprecedented energy and ingenuity. This seminar will focus especially on how Bosch and Bruegel developed new ways not merely to observe life, but also to ponder, challenge, and perhaps improve it. As we address the art itself and its colorful history of reception and interpretation, we will also consider the vitality of these paintings, prints, and drawings as instruments of reflection in our own time. Our exploration of their art and that of their contemporaries will include one or two class visits to the National Gallery of Art. For more information about this and other courses in the Department of Art and Art History, please visit https://art.georgetown.edu This course is not available to audit.