Farcaster

1568
The Blind Leading the Blind
Artist: Pieter Bruegel the Elder

This painting shows a single procession of six blind men, gripping each other's shoulders or linked by their staffs, as they wander down a narrow path. In the background sits the realistically-depicted church of Sint-Anna and the small village of Sint-Anna-Pede. The color palette, employing grey, black, brown, and green creates a sense of austerity, while the matte and opaque effect, created by the use of distemper, brings the viewer into the same hazy experience as of the sight-challenged men. The group moves in a diagonal that tumbles forward, as the leader, rendered with remarkable foreshortening, has fallen over backwards into a ditch on the lower right, pulling the men off balance. The still upright man in the lower right twists his head toward the viewer with an unseeing gaze, as he lurches forward. The third man, bending forward on his toes, his face pointed up to the sky, tries to maintain his precarious balance.