Die Anbetung der Könige

In 1564 Bruegel did something unusual for him. He turned the canvas upright and pushed a knot of large figures right up to the front, close enough to crowd the viewer, when he almost always worked wide and kept his people small in a landscape. The kings kneel with their gold, but nothing about the mood is gentle. Their clothes are rich and dishevelled, the soldiers behind them look menacing, and the onlookers seem baffled or annoyed rather than reverent. It is plainly winter, Mary's sleeves are fur-lined and Joseph wears a heavy belted robe. One man leans in to whisper something in Joseph's ear, and no one has ever been sure what he is meant to be saying.