The Census at Bethlehem by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Interpretation and Analysis)

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The Census at Bethlehem
Source: Wikimedia Commons

As Christmas approaches, I decided to share some festive art to get everyone in the holiday spirit! Today, we’re going to take a look at The Census at Bethlehem by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, one of the greatest and most interesting painters in Western history.

Bruegel is the quintessential Northern Renaissance artist. His style is unique and eclectic, reminiscent of the work of Hieronymus Bosch in its oddity. Today, Bruegel is known for his distinctive landscapes, scenes of everyday life, allegorical paintings, and his Northern Renaissance panache in general.

The Northern Renaissance—a term I’m using pretty loosely here—refers to an artistic movement in northern Europe that occurred at roughly the same time as the Italian Renaissance. Art of the Northern Renaissance is characterized by increased attention to the accurate portrayal of three dimensional space and greater realism in the depiction of the human form. However, art of the Northern Renaissance lacks the grandiose style of its Italian counterparts; instead, northern artists focused on more down-to-Earth scenes of everyday life and religious subjects.

The Census at Bethlehem is an excellent example of this style. Like all of Bruegel’s art, it’s full of intricate and fascinating details of mundane life, so much so that the central subject of the painting is almost invisible amongst the chaos.

The ostensible subject of the piece is biblical. As the title suggests, the painting represents the census at Bethlehem, which is described in the gospel of Luke: “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world...And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child” (Luke 2:1-5). Mary and Joseph can be seen in the center of the painting. They are at the heart of a bustling flemish village, full of busy townspeople. The painting transforms this ancient, biblical scene into something modern and contemporary.

Bruegel had a deep interest in everyday life. Regardless of their subject, most of his paintings contain glimpses of ordinary life. Bruegel seemed to understand the profound poetry and meaning of the mundane. He celebrates this through his paintings, bringing grand and sacred subjects into understandable and comprehensible context. It is a very humanist way to look at the world, a uniquely Renaissance perspective.

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