1: Bruegel's Hunters
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Jaegers in de sneeuw ('Hunters in the Snow'), 1565
Oil on panel, w162 cm x h117 cm (63.78" x 46.06")
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
Another work by Bruegel (we're sure this time) for comparison.
'Hunters in the Snow' is a favorite, mostly because of the way the depth is handled, which is awesomely. For how much 'stuff' is going on that the artist has to wrangle here, all of which has to stick to rules of believability AND composition, it's tossed off like it was easy. And, as so often, it's the little stuff — the birds are what really make this gel, and it's always such an amazing (and amazingly sucky) thing that details like that can make or break a mountain of work.
Anyway, obvious visual similarities here, with the from-above perspective, the little bit of 'world landscape', the figures being dwarfed by the landscape except for a cluster at the front. There's even a bit of green tint to it.
But the symbolic overtones are pretty much gone. This painting feels more like an experience in itself than any sort of commentary — for me, I see the smoke, hear the branches snapping in the cold, feel the bite to the air. It's a solidly-done taste of life in this area, and not trying to be anything more than that.
Which just makes the funny little choices in 'Icarus' stand out all the more.