The Elder

I chose to write about The Harvesters, an oil painting on wood depicting the lives of agriculturalist. I like this piece of art because it is so detailed for something drawn in 1565. I also feel that because it is so detailed, it should provide me with a lot to talk about, though I know nothing about art.

This picture shows people relaxing in the shade of a not so leafy tree from what appears to be a long hard day of work in the sun. They strike me as being the main focus of the picture, as well as the large light brown hay field to their left. The group is consists of men and women as well as what appears to be a child or a small woman. They are dress in everything from red, to brown, to white, to green, to black, to gray. Those who were hats all have on different ones. One lady has on a white head tie and the other has on a cone shaped, maybe Asian aspired tan hat, that a man has on as well except his is in black. The other two men have on different styles of bucket type hats one is beige and the other is a dark shade maybe black. The people who's faces are shown all have different facial expressions, which could be either joy or relief. It may show that in these times everyone had to work to support the family. One man is lying against the tree, trying to relax or sleep with his right hand behind his head as a cushion. The seven others are either eating out of a bowl or drinking while sitting on rolled up stacks of hay. The other man is cutting some type of food over a basket, maybe to eat later. There is also a rack leaning against the tree indicating that after their meal they may go right back to work. Behind them in the distance is a few scraggly trees and a huge house or church.

Behind the people that are eating, on the right side of the picture are five more workers, one of which is a woman. One man is standing close to the hay field perhaps cutting down the hay. While the other men and the women are lying down small hay stacks. There are about 23 of these stacks that have already been laid parallel to each other. They are all looking down so we can only see the top of their heads. I can only guess that the two people in the background is a male and a female from the hat on one of their heads. There are also five tent shaped haystacks sporadically drawn throughout the painting, a long ladder opposed to a step stool and a bucket. The picture shows small brown balls as well, I have no idea what they