What the picture "Mad Greta" really tells about Bruegel the Elder: Symbolism, secrets and paradoxes of the masterpiece

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

"Mad Greta" is one of the most phantasmoric paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, still causing a lot of controversy in the artistic environment. Some convict the author of plagiarism, borrowing his fanciful characters from Bosch, others declare Bruegel almost the first surrealist. However, both of them absolutely agree that this work is one of the most terrifying paintings by the Dutch master. For all its fantastic nature, it is filled with the tragedy of the real, contemporary artist's life. What is the meaning of what he wanted to say and what the genius encrypted in his work, then - in the review.

The Parable of Mad Greta

The parable of Mad Greta, who embarked on a militant campaign into Hell for her frying pan, was very popular in the Netherlands in the 16th century. This is evidenced by many popular proverbs and sayings that have come down to our time: "to steal a frying pan from hell", "to be in your armor", "to take fate in iron mittens" and "to rush into the underworld with a sword bald".

In short, this parable says that one day a poor old woman, driven to complete despair by the poverty and devastation that war had brought to her house, decided to declare war on her own destiny. And the woman's fate was really unenviable … A drinking husband who left her at a young age with a bunch of little kids in his arms. Then, as a blow of fate, she accepted the death of her children, one after another, who fought against the Spanish invaders.

So, in tears and need, her joyless life passed, until one everyday, seemingly quite insignificant situation finally pissed her off. One morning Greta could not find a pan to cook her own food. And then, everything that had accumulated in her soul for many years broke through. The woman decided to return to herself not only the frying pan, which was apparently stolen, but also everything that life had not given her.

Really angry Greta, resolutely dressed in armor, armed with what was at hand, rushed into the underworld. She once heard a sermon in church that there devils fry sinners in large pans. Greta's determination was beyond measure! An armed old woman in armor was not frightened either by the pictures of terrible battles - she saw everyone in her life, nor by the terrible faces of demons - her drunken husband once looked no better! She looked out only for a frying pan for frying sinners, and when she saw it, she took it away from the devils by force and, taking possession of the so desired trophy, triumphantly set off back. However, the trip to Hell was not in vain - upon her return, the woman lost the remnants of her mind. This is the sad ending of this old parable.

It should be noted that the Dutch themselves always treated Greta's act with irony, called the warlike woman a witch, a shrew, an evil ghost, but still sincerely sympathized and even took pride in her decisiveness.

So what did Bruegel put into the meaning of his painting "Mad Greta"

However, we see a completely different story in a painting by a Dutch master … Bruegel would not have been Bruegel if he had not introduced his own interpretation into his work.

Awareness of the inevitability of fate and time, a sense of the vast universe and an understanding of the true place of man in it, made Bruegel one of the greatest sages in the art of the Northern Renaissance. The main idea of the picture is to cause a feeling of disgust not so much for the mystical creatures inhabiting Hell, but rather for the madness of people who have lost control over their actions.

The idea of writing this work arose from Bruegel in those stormy times, when the military conflict between Spain and its subordinate Flanders (the territory of modern Belgium and the Netherlands) reached its climax. The terror perpetrated by the Spaniards in the occupied lands has reached its highest limit.

The title of the painting also has some symbolism. In those days, the big cannon was named Big Greta, so it is worth suggesting that Bruegel used it as an allegory for the motives of the war that engulfed his country. In confirmation of all this, we see the dilapidated walls of the fortress, the blazing glow of a fire and a detachment of knights armed with a whole arsenal of weapons.

The variety of different buildings and objects in the picture, people and fantastic creatures, fire and the whole atmosphere of madness create a sense of tragedy and drama in the viewer. Using the image of the possessed Greta, the artist managed to convey the frightening power of insane all-destructive energy. Thus, Bruegel was the first in Dutch art to create a composition that indirectly reflected a specific military conflict between states. In the picture as a whole, there are a lot of allusions to the real war of that time, the prison, the presence of enemy troops.

Painting overview

Moving away from the classical manner of conveying the atmosphere of chaos and hell, where the main characters have always been any evil, the artist depicted the people themselves with their vices, using allegories and metaphors. So, a red glow blazing on the horizon, and the invasion of numerous monsters clearly indicates that the action takes place in Hell. An elderly woman in armor and a helmet is depicted in the center - this is the mad Greta, a famous character in Flemish folklore.

Since the image of a crazy woman, with goggling eyes and a senselessly open mouth, is made so convincingly by the author, the viewer does not even have a doubt that the main character is really possessed and insane. Armed with a sword, she swiftly runs straight into the very mouth of Satan, who is already looking at her with undisguised fear. The artist endowed the desperate Greta with vicious traits: madness, greed and aggression. Moreover, the desire to return her own life and the life that was not given to her, takes possession of the woman to such an extent that she decides to rob the very heat of Hell, where devils fry sinners in pans. And this despite the fact that her hands are already occupied by the trophies obtained.

Right behind the running Greta, the viewer can clearly see a crowd of fighting women in the picture. What happened on the bridge that caused a violent conflict? If we look higher, we will see the creature that provoked this incident.

Many art critics interpret her as a witch: We clearly see how some women on the bridge are desperately pounding the inhabitants of hell with their fists and sticks and trying to throw them into the river. Others try to take bags of good from the burning house. Still others try to catch falling coins from the "sky". In a word, sheer chaos and confusion in actions, but the symbolism is quite understandable: in hell you have to pay a hundredfold for unjustly acquired earthly wealth.

The Dutch proverb, which corresponds to the spirit of Bruegel's painting, can be cited at the most opportune time in this regard:

It is curious that there are few men in the picture and they mostly perform a passive role, for example, a detachment of knights hiding under a bridge. Here Bruegel has a direct allusion to the partisan war that flared up in the rear of the Spanish enemy troops.

However, summing up the above, I would like to note that, by and large, the symbolic meaning that Bruegel put into this fantastic composition is not at all easy to interpret unequivocally. Here is the personification of evil, and the embodiment of the depravity of human passions, and even an allegorical image of heresy. But be that as it may, on his canvas, executed in restlessly red-brown colors, Bruegel perfectly managed to convey the frightening power of the energy of destruction, which constantly hangs over the world as wars, conflicts, confrontation and enmity.

In particular, in the image of Greta, the artist decided to show the fearlessness of the Flemings, which borders on madness. Indeed, in order to oppose the almighty emperor, it was necessary in reality to lose his mind, so the forces were not equal. It's not for nothing that the classic has such words:. And as the history of all wars has shown, there is a great truth in this, despite all its seeming absurdity.

P. S

One more thing. Bruegel's masterpiece Mad Greta, after its writing, for some time was included in the collection of paintings by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. In 1648, the canvas was taken out by Swedish troops, and appeared in Stockholm in 1800. Almost a century later, art collector Fritz Mayer van den Berg discovered it at an auction in Cologne and bought it for mere pennies. A few days later, to his surprise, he found out the name of the author. Since then, this painting has been included in the collection of the Mayer van den Berg Museum in Antwerp.

Bruegel has another canvas, the authorship of which was attributed to Bosch for a long time due to the similarity of the manner of writing. it painting "The Fall of Rebel Angels", illustrating the battle of angels with ugly mutants and monsters of the underworld.