The Hunters in the Snow (also known as The Return of the Hunters) is an oil on wood painting by Pieter Bruegel in 1565. The painting is one in a series of six works, five of which still survive, that depict different times of the year. The painting is in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, located in Vienna, Austria. This painting is an example of the Northern Renaissance movement.
The painting shows a wintry scene in which three hunt...
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The Hunters in the Snow (also known as The Return of the Hunters) is an oil on wood painting by Pieter Bruegel in 1565. The painting is one in a series of six works, five of which still survive, that depict different times of the year. The painting is in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, located in Vienna, Austria. This painting is an example of the Northern Renaissance movement.
The painting shows a wintry scene in which three hunters are returning from a hunting expedition accompanied by their dogs. By appearances, the expedition was not successful: the hunters appear to trudge wearily, and the dogs appear downtrodden and miserable. One hunter carries the "meagre corpse of a fox" illustrating the paucity of the hunt. The whole visual impression is one of a calm, cold, overcast, day: the colours are muted whites and grays; the trees are bare of leaves; woodsmoke hangs in the air.
The landscape itself is a flat-bottomed valley (a river meanders through it) with jagged...
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