When Brueghel began to paint, Flemish art was becoming Italianized. The native tradition of the Van Eycks and their followers had been vigorously realistic, but in the early 1500s imitation of Italian Renaissance styles swept the country. Brueghel was not swayed by the prevailing fashion for epic scenes and perfect bodies. He continued the line of the earlier Flemish realism, to which he added his individual vision and style and a profound fascination with life.Brueghel’s earlier paintings were devoted chiefly to the ways of peasant life. Later, he painted more religious scenes. Toward the end of his career he projected a series of twelve landscapes, to be called The Months, and completed five of these, of which The Harvesters stood for August.
