The Harvesters

Under a hazy golden sky, peasants cut and bind a field of wheat while others sprawl in the shade of a pear tree to eat, one man flat on his back asleep with his mouth open. Part of Bruegel's series on the months - this panel for late summer - it sets human labor and rest within the slow turn of the agricultural year, with no saint or myth in sight. The high horizon and sweeping golden field make it a landmark in the rise of pure landscape painting. It belongs with Hunters in the Snow and Haymaking, also in this collection.