Icarus

The painting I've chosen is Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. It was probably painted by Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel in 1558, although this attribution is doubtful. Now, you can find it in Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

In the painting we can admire a beautiful landscape. In the foreground, you can see a ploughman working on his field on a scarp next to the sea. He's the focal point here. Lower, there is a shepherd that is looking at the sky. In the bottom right-hand corner, you can find a fisherman. In the background, there is the calm sea with some rocks, islands and boats. On the horizon, we can see mountains and town illuminated by the sun. The most invisible point is the title Icarus. You can find him in the bottom right-hand corner, close to the fisherman. You can see his legs in the water and some feathers floating around.

The composition is full of beautiful colours. However, you can see a clear division between the foreground and the background. The first one presents warm colours, for example, brown, yellow, orange. For that reason, it seems to be very distinct and deep. The second one is rather created with cold colours (blue, white, grey). It's very soft and delicate.

The painting is based on Greek mithology. It's a a story of Daedalus' son who dared to fly too near the sun on wings of feathers and wax. His father cautioned him that flying too near the sun would cause the wax to melt, but Icarus forgot his father's warning and drowned in the sea what we can see in the landscape. Despite the tragedy, all the people stay indifferent and everything continues without any change. It shows the dark side of humans nature and his tendency to be selfish. In my opinion, the small figure of Icarus can symbolize insignificance and fragility of our life. I would also say that the painting shows the traditional model of life that is very mundane and full of work. In opposition to this real world there is Icarus, the dreamer.

I've chosen this piece of art because I love its colours and the composition. However, the most important thing for me is its meaning. The painting is quite old. It has more than 450 years, but its message is still valid and current. It is also very thought-provoking.