The Blind Leading the Blind

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The Blind Leading the Blind

Artwork

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The Blind Leading the Blind (or Blind or The Parable of the Blind, Dutch: De parabel der blinden) is a painting of 1568 by Flemish renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Executed in distemper on linen canvas, it measures 86 cm × 154 cm (34 in × 61 in). It is the earliest surviving painting to depict the Biblical parable of the blind leading the blind from the Gospel of Matthew 15:14. The painting is in the collection of the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, Italy.Painted the year before Bruegel's death, the painting has a bitter, sorrowful tone, which may be related to the establishment of the Council of Troubles in 1567 by the government of the Spanish Netherlands. The council ordered mass arrests and executions in order to enforce Spanish rule and suppress Protestantism. However it is not clear if the painting was meant as a political statement. The placement of Sint-Anna Church of the village Sint-Anna-Pede has led to both pro- and anti-Catholic interpretations.The Blind Leading the Blind reveals Bruegel as a master of observation. Each figure has a different eye affliction, including corneal leukemia, atrophy of globe and removed eyes. The figures hold their heads up so as to make better use of their other senses. The diagonal composition reinforces the off-kilter motion of the six figures falling in progression, a concern with motion that has been seen as prefiguring the advent of film.The Blind Leading the Blind is considered one of the masterworks of painting for its fine, accurate detail and dynamic composition. Copies include a larger version by Bruegel's son Pieter Brueghel the Younger, and the work has inspired literature such as poetry by Charles Baudelaire and William Carlos Williams and novels such as Gert Hofmann's The Parable of the Blind.