---

The Kermesse by Pieter Brueghel, the Elder (1567-68)

Analysis:

1. How does the artist lead the viewer's eye around the painting?

2. What patterns of lighter and darker areas can you find?

3. What contrasts other than light and dark can you find?

4. What emotional response does the work invite?

Interpretation:

1. What story does the work tell?

2. What is the point or message of the work?

3. Is Brueghel celebrating with the peasants or making fun of them?

Now, turn to The Dance by William Carlos Williams.

1. Compare Williams's emphases to Brueghel's.

2. Describe the structure of the poem. What patterns does it have? How is the poem like

a song? Like a dance?

3. Does your understanding of the poem depend on your having seen the painting?

4. How is the poem more than just a description of the painting?

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Brueghel, the Elder (c. 1558)

Analysis:

1. How does the artist lead the viewer's eye around the painting?

2. What patterns of lighter and darker areas can you find?

3. What contrasts other than light and dark can you find?

4. What emotional response does the work invite?

Interpretation:

1. What story does the work tell?

2. What is the point or message of the work?

3. Is Brueghel lamenting the fall of Icarus or making fun of it?

Now, turn to Musee des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden.

1. Compare Auden's emphases to Brueghel's.

2. Describe the structure of the poem. What patterns does it have? What might it have in common with a landscape?

3. Does your understanding of the poem depend on your having seen the painting?

4. How is the poem more than just a description of the painting?