Bruegel- "The Blind leading the Blind"

The last two blind figures in Bruegel's "The Blind Leading The Blind"

When I first viewed Bruegel's masterpiece "The blind leading the Blind" in Naples, I had been living in Italy for nearly a year, so it's impact was instant. Whether this was due to my diet of sweet Italian paintings I'm not sure, but the comparison of a more brutal Northern European style hit my sensibility straight between the eyes. The sheer economy of paint on canvas gave the work a sense of urgency not found  in Renaissance Italy. The forms seemed to have been created by simply rubbing a rag across the canvas. The result left me somewhat speechless, for I must have stood there for what seemed like an hours.

The more you study Bruegal's master work, the more you see and more importantly feel for it is a depiction of human misery on a grand scale. Each man's inner thoughts seem to be presented in all their despair. The Blind leading the Blind" is more than a mere painting, it depicts in graphic form the cruelty of humans towards each other, while at the same time suggesting a sense of brotherhood. The blind participants express and symbolize various fundamental human conditions.

First figure on right lying on the ground and about to fall into the swamp.

The figure on the extreme right portrays absolute despair. He has fallen almost head first into a swamp with little hope of escape from drowning. Each of the figures are unable to see any reality beyond their inner most thoughts. Their is no dream for them of a better future, already his mouth is open like a drowned man. There is nothing to clutch hold of even if he could see, just water plants and the swamp itself.

Fallen figure.

The second figure falling over him represents hate, his empty sockets gaze menacing out into the void. His hand seems to be pushing the fallen victim towards  the water. A viewer almost feels that he also will follow a similar fate.

Second blind man from right.

Innocence is the next condition, he has under gone much suffering throughout his life. He seems a rather tender sort of man intent on holding the staff confident he is safe, unaware of the drama unfolding before him. His bellowing cloths suggest further misfortune that has plagued him  through  out life..

Figure on right represents innocence.

Following him is the blind beggar representing tragedy. His trusting hand placed on the should in front. He believes he belongs to a brotherhood of similar spirits.The figure behind him is totally attached to both the men in front and behind. His hand falls affectionately on the figure in front, while he holds fast to the staff for his companion behind. He seems lost in thought, listening to their marching feet ,drawing confidence from its regular beat.

Tragedy

Figures five and six, the last represents trust.

The final walker has a child;like expression on his face, he seems to be in a dream state as he drifts along. Nothing from the outside world reaches him as he clutches the staff unaware that he too is condemned to fall.
This painting has a strange spiritual feeling about it, there is a sense of pity, but there is nothing we can do to save these individuals. The philosopher Schopenhauer once rightly pointed out that pity is the ultimate goal of all spiritual seeking. The more compassion we have for others presupposes the pity one would expect from them if fortune favours their future.

This painting in my view is one of the great works of the 16th cent. It presents a universe of personal perception. It presents in graphic form the march of the have no ts of our world as they march along to their fate. In a contemporary sense it is pertinent to our current situation , were the greater mass of humanity struggle to survive. Our political masters are in a way portrayed by these blind men locked in there own personal agendas, unable or unwilling to see were they are going.