Pieter Bruegel and Genre Painting

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Peasant Dance, 1568

According to About.com, "genre paintings were scenes from everyday life. They contained people, animals, touches of still lifes, bits of landscape (although interior scenes were more common) or any combination thereof. They were admired for the skills artists employed and were occasionally (possibly unintentionally) humorous, but they didn't command the respect that History Painting or Portraiture did."  Genre Paintings were ranked third on the hierarchy of paintings from the Italian Renaissance.  For me, genre paintings brought artwork that was more accessible to all classes of people.  By depicting everyday life, one can relate to the paintings from one's personal life experiences.  Pieter Bruegel the Elder's, The Peasant Dance, gives us a glimpse of life during the 1560's and a moment of joy.  Enjoy!