February Art Appreciation Lesson
Let’s Play!
Kinderspiele or Children’s Games
Pieter Bruegel
Why do artists paint children?
Children, by their nature, have always been full of energy and curiosity. In the eyes of a
child, even the simplest of things can become the object of play and enjoyment. Games
and toys not only stimulate the mind and inspire creativity, but they also develop the
physical capabilities of children. Games are the tools by which children explore and learn
about the world around them. Children in art are an excellent reflection of the innocence
and carefree world of youth. By looking at the sorts of games children play during
different periods of history, we can learn a lot about the life at that time. Over the next
couple of lessons, we will look at a variety of art pieces that show children at play.
The Renaissance
The first piece of art in this series of “Children at Play” was painted during the
Renaissance. The word Renaissance comes from the French word meaning “rebirth”
or “reawakening.” It occurred after the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages or more
appropriately termed the “Dark Ages,” were a time when many wars were fought,
laws were broken and people lived in fear of questioning what was going on in the
world around them.
Once order and laws were restored, The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to
the rest of Europe between the 1400’s and 1600’s. This was a time where
philosophy, art and science from the ancient times (Greece and Rome) were being
rediscovered.
Some important events that took place in the Renaissance were the invention of the
printing press, which opened access to books, Christopher Columbus, sailed to
America, Magellan circled the globe, and Copernicus discovered the orbit of the
Earth around the Sun. This was also the time when the greatest art the world has
ever known was created.
Children of the Renaissance
Children living during this time had less time to play than modern children because
work consumed much of their day. Work was not just homework and going to
school; they worked in the fields or in their parent’s homes. Children were also
responsible for performing housekeeping responsibilities on a daily basis. Their
jobs were much more than making their bed and taking out the trash, they actually
provided for their families by cleaning, cooking, sewing, building things, and
planting and harvesting.
Pieter Bruegel
(152?-1569)
Pieter Bruegel the Elder was from the Netherlands and painted during the
Renaissance. He was born sometime in the late 1520 and came from a family with
many artists. His name was origionally spelled “Brueghel” but he changed it to
“Bruegel” to stand out in this highly artistic family. You’ll notice that he was very
different from the other Renaissance painters you’ve learned about, such as
Leonardo Davinci and Michelangelo. First, Bruegel didn’t paint portraits. Second, he
didn’t focus on details. Bruegel preferred to paint people in motion. The shape of the
people’s bodies was more important than the details of their clothing. And third,
Bruegel loved to paint landscapes. Other Renaissance painters created landscapes
too, but they usually painted them just as a backdrop for an important event or
scene. Bruegel was more concerned with the actions of the people within this
landscape.
Bruegel served as apprentice until 1551 until he became a master painter. For the
next three years after that, Bruegel traveled through Italy and met many important
artists of the Renaissance.
As previously mentioned, Bruegel liked to paint peasants, or common people, and
the things they did daily. In fact, he often dressed up as a peasant and wandered
through towns looking for inspiration. This earned him the nickname “Peasant
Bruegel”
Bruegel had two sons, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder. They
both became painters in this family of many artists.
Kinderspiele or Children at Play
c. 1560
While many of Bruegel’s paintings portray peasant folk culture, this summer
townscape is unique because there are no adults. Rather, this painting is a highly
detailed depiction of nearly 250 children engaged in nearly 80 different games and
play activities. At first the image seems to capture a holiday, but soon it becomes
clear that the painting is meant to be an encyclopedia of children's games. Because
most of them are still played today, eight-four have been identified. Others not
known to the twentieth century have yet to be recognized.
Physically energetic and imaginatively engaged girls and boys are everywhere in
Bruegel's busy painting. Some are using their bodies, while others are playing with
children and/or with toys.
Here are some examples:
-
The three boys sitting on a red fence appear to be pretending to racehorses.
-
A few are playing leapfrog and others playing "horse" and "tug of war."
-
Another is straddling a hobbyhorse.
-
Two girls are playing a medieval form of jacks (knucklebones) but with a
bone instead of a ball.
-
A group of children playing dress-up appear to be staging a wedding.
-
A small group of boys are spinning tops (a popular toy).
-
A girl is playing musical instruments, another with a doll.
-
A few boys are balancing on barrels.
-
Some children are engaged in solitary play (e.g., blowing bubbles; doll
making).
-
While some are playing gently, there are rough bullies here as well. (Should
be interesting to ask the children which children could be the bullies and why
do they think this?)
Brueghel did not want to emphasize one game above the others so he painted them
as if looking down at them from above. By painting this way, not one child is
blocked from view. While the distant children are smaller than the ones up front,
creating perspective, their costumes/clothing are still bright. No matter where the
children are, even in the shadows, Brueghel painted them as if they were in the
bright, noon sun. To make them all noticeable, Brueghel also made all of the
children's faces similar but not exactly alike. Differences in clothing are slight, and
not many colors are used. But each child looks like an individual because of the way
the artist painted bodies and their movements.
At first it looks as though the boys and girls are scattered around the town at
random. Brueghel knew how to organize large crowds into patterns and did this
quite successfully in many of his paintings.
Here are a couple of ways he created order with the 250 children in the painting:
-
The figures in the foreground of the painting are arranged in lines that fan
out from the lower left corner and catch the viewer's eye first. Of course,
being formed of children, these lines are not exactly straight.
-
The children in the street behind them are placed in small groups that form a
back-and-forth curving line.
Questions:
1. Can you recognize any of the games that the children are playing in the
painting? Do you play any of these games?
2. Name some of these games.
3. What parts of the painting stand out to you? Why?
4. How do the colors affect you? Do they cause you to notice certain details first?
5. Are all of the children the same age? How do you know this?
6. What do you notice about the town where these children live? What sorts of
buildings do you see in the foreground and further into the background?
7. Do you think bullies existed at this time? Can you tell who might be one in this
painting? Why do you think this?
8. What sorts of hats are the children wearing?
9. Do you see all of their faces?
10. Can you find the boy climbing the tree?
11. Can you find the children that are swimming?
12. Can you find the girl twirling?
13. Are there any children inside? What are they doing?
14. Are there a lot of toys? Why or why not?
15. Are there any organized sports going on?
16. What time of day is this? Why would so many children be in the streets
playing? What sorts of events would cause this many people to be out and
about?
17. How deep into this painting can you see the detail of what the children are
doing?
18. If you and your friends were out like this, would you be doing the same thing?
What would be different?
19. What makes the play of today and the play shown in this painting different?
20. Do you think our lives today are very different than the lives of these children?
Do you think this sort of scene would be possible today?
Reinforcing Activities:
1. This link brings up a movable jigsaw puzzle where the pieces that can be moved
and put into place. Use this link on the smartboard. When the correct pieces are put
into place, the pieces will make a locking sound. It helps to start by putting the
corners in first.
http://songsofpraise.org/jigsaw2.php?imageurl=http://gardenofpraise.com/image
s2/brugel4.jpg&imageheight=700&imagewidth=699&imagetitle=Bruegel+Children'
s+Games&callingpage=http://gardenofpraise.com/art28.htm
2. This link can be used to study the painting even more closely. Open the link on
the smartboard. Wait for the curser to change to a “hand.” Once this happens, the
students can click on any part of the painting and an explanation of the game they
are playing will pop up. 32 of the 80 games being played have an explanation.
http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/VirtualExhibits/Brueghel/imgmap.html
3. I have a few books that will be available in the next couple of days. The one I
think will be the best is called Lazy Days of Summer is a book of poetry about
games children play outside. I have 4 others to review before I put them on hold for
your use and will give you a brief summary once I have had a chance to read
through them.
4. If the weather is nice, take the class out to play one of the games. They all love to
go outside!
5. For the older classes, have them pair up or work as a table to come up with a list
of games that they play or the things that they do for free time. Hold a discussion on
what makes our games different and what makes them similar. Should be
interesting to see how technology has changed the games our children play!!!
6. Have the class draw themselves in a group playing a game.
References:
www.gardenofpraise.com
www.painting.about.com
www.dmoz.com
www.davidrumsey.com
www.artdisaac.posterous.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.easyart.com
www.chd.sagepub.com
www.chnm.gmu.edu
www.artoftheprint.com