What Bruegel the Elder told about in his painting "The Fall of the Rebel Angels" Symbolism, mysteries and paradoxes of a masterpiece

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

As you delve deeper into the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, you never stop admiring his unique skill and uncommon vision of the world. In our today's publication, an amazing masterpiece of a Dutch artist, until recently, has not been thoroughly studied and analyzed. It will be about an unusual canvas of the master - "Fall of the Rebel Angels", written in 1562, which was recently examined by specialists from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium.

A few words about the plot

The plot is based on the old biblical story, or rather the legend about the fall of angels from paradise, symbolically reflecting the end of the world, during which humanity, mired in sinfulness, pride and cruelty, is doomed to universal destruction.

According to one version of the legend, this is the first confrontation between Good and Evil, even before the Fall of Man, when the most powerful angel-light-bearer Lucifer rebelled against divine power. At the direction of the Almighty, Archangel Michael was to punish the rebel. This confrontation led to the fall of other rebellious angels, doomed to reincarnate into demons and fall to the bottom of hell itself.

According to another version - (Apocalypse 12: 7)

However, over the centuries, these versions of Lucifer and the Apocalyptic dragon have merged into one and are a symbol of the omnipresent struggle between good and evil.

About the picture

The Fall of Rebel Angels by Pieter Bruegel the Elder is undoubtedly a masterpiece illustrating the battle of angels and the Apocalypse. Archangel Michael, depicted in the center, in gilded armor and a blue-turquoise cloak, together with the heavenly host, drives out the angels who rebelled against God. In his hands we see a shield with a red Latin cross on a white background, which is a symbol of the Resurrection, as well as a sword with which he defeated the seven-headed dragon, symbolizing Satan. This fallen monster is practically hidden behind a mash of fantastic terrifying creatures and mysterious objects that at first glance defy identification. Among other things, in the picture you can find rare and exotic animals such as an armadillo or a puffer.

It was for the greatest persuasiveness that Bruegel used in his work the images of the ominous Bosch characters, with which this canvas literally abounds. There are also echoes in the work of the popular works of other old masters - Jan van Eyck and Albrecht Dürer.

Description of the canvas

The surface of the painting is horizontally divided into two approximately equal halves. At the top of the piece, Bruegel depicted a sparkling ball representing Heaven. Light angels fiercely fight the dark army of the rebels and trumpet the hymn of victory in the divine trumpets. These characters are in light-colored clothing with detailed faces and wings. In their movements, they are free and warlike.

The exception is the falling images of angels depicted in the upper part of the canvas, which have not yet lost their human appearance. But, in spite of their white clothes and golden wings, it is clear that they have already been defeated and, spreading their arms, limply fall down, turning into fantastic creatures - the inhabitants of hell. They appear in the form of demi-humans and animals with huge eyes, open mouths, and some with open bellies.

And the lower they go, more and more they begin to resemble frightening hybrids, carefully composed in strict observance of "naturalia" (natural creatures) and "artificalia" (creatures created by man). Because of this, Bruegel's painting gives the impression of a stunning cabinet of curiosities.

Since the lower part of the picture is dark and gloomy, you need to look closely to distinguish between individual images. Everything here is mixed, rich and chaotic. The figures in hell completely lose their human appearance and turn into terrible naked monsters with huge jaws and pincers. Faces and eyes, which can still be discerned in the darkness, are filled with horror, mouths open in a mad scream.

The color contrast between the lower and upper parts of the canvas, between Heaven and Hell, is also pronounced. So, the top is made in blue, light blue, yellow and white. The lower one is filled with dark and ominous colors. Brown, dark red, poisonous yellow, gray and green creatures create the impression of a terrible mess that kills all light and divine.

By the way, in the painting by Bruegel, the perspective is masterfully worked out - it is emphasized by the size of the figures - in the foreground they are large, at the top - small. The dynamics and movement are conveyed by the direction in which the characters fall.

A new look at an old masterpiece

An interesting fact in the history of this extraordinary work of Bruegel is that its authorship up to 1898 was attributed to Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516). Only at the very end of the 19th century, in the lower left corner, hidden by a baguette frame, was the date and signature "MDLXII / Brvegel" discovered, which was a great discovery even for art critics.

It is also noteworthy that modern specialists have finally paid attention to this amazing masterpiece, which has never been thoroughly studied. The scientific research is published in the form of a beautifully illustrated book, in which Tine Meganck, a researcher at the Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, described some of the secrets and symbolic meanings encoded in the painting, which have long been hidden from the viewer's attention. The art critic drew an unexpected parallel between painting and Western European politics during Bruegel's time. After all, a real artist could not exist and create outside of his time.

Another significant point of the study: Tyne Meganck also came to the conclusion that Bruegel made an attempt to surpass Hieronymus Bosch himself, whose work was inspired in his youth. And also the artist tried to transform the traditional biblical moralism about the sin of pride into his own vision of events taking place not only in his country, but in the world as a whole.

Bruegel showed how seemingly good aspirations of people lead to a dangerous rebirth. And "The Fall of Rebellious Angels" has become an excellent illustration of the potential danger that lies in wait for people in their pursuit of prosperity, art, knowledge, politics, everything in which a person tries to surpass the Creator himself. And it should be noted that the idea used by Bruegel is a universal theme that is relevant to this day.

Tyne Meganck, focusing on the fact that the canvas was created in 1562, revealed in her work a fascinating theory about the formation of a society of global knowledge and the role of art in politics on the eve of the Netherlands Revolution.

Indeed, it was in 1562 in the Netherlands that the Protestant opposition against Spain was finally formed, which Bruegel portrayed in the form of a monster. The confrontation that was brewing in the next ten years was resolved by the Eighty Years War, which led to the independence of the Seven United Provinces (Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Groningen, Geldern, Overijssel, Friesland) and the General Lands.

Bruegel as a prophet, foreshadowing these upcoming events in 1562, showed that humanity, mired in the kingdom of nonsense and cruelty, is heading towards universal destruction. Having created this prophetic canvas, the artist himself experienced a deep shock, which made him change his tragic and expressive attitude to bitter philosophical reflections, sad mood and disappointment.

Having survived a moral and creative crisis, Bruegel eventually turns back to real forms, again creates paintings with distant, endless landscapes, again takes the viewer into an endless, immense Bruegel panorama.

Before creating the painting "The Fall of Rebellious Angels" Bruegel created a canvas called "The Fall of Icarus", also filled with secret and symbolic signs. Looking at this work, each viewer involuntarily asks the question: Where is the main character, where did he fall and how did it happen?