The Harvesters

In a late-summer field peasants scythe and bind golden wheat, while others sit beneath a pear tree sharing bread, porridge and pears, and one man sprawls asleep. Beyond lie a village, a church, a pond and a broad plain stretching to the horizon. The Harvesters is one of a series of paintings of the seasons that Pieter Bruegel the Elder made in 1565 for the Antwerp merchant Niclaes Jongelinck. The series originally numbered six panels showing the labors and landscapes of the year; five survive, in Vienna, Prague and New York. Bruegel does not mock his peasants but records their work, rest and the rhythm of nature. With its warm golden tonality and deep space, the painting is a landmark in the history of Western landscape.