“The Census at Bethlehem”
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1566
In 6 CE Pubilus Sulpucius Quiriniius, the then Roman Governor of Syria, was assigned to carry out a census in Judaea. The purpose was to record the owners of taxable properties and allow the raising of appropriate revenue for Rome. Appropriate from a Roman perspective anyway. The project was not popular and triggered a revolt by Jewish Zealots. This well known event was likely adopted as a literary device in the New Testament, becoming the basis for the Nativity story of Mary and Joseph being forced into travelling to Bethlehem during a period of political and social disruption. This painting captures the chaos of that journey. When Pieter Bruegel the Elder produced this work it was highly controversial. It was one one first significant paintings to depict a bleak Winter landscape, rather than the colours and hope of Spring. It also shows Bethlehem as a Flemish Village, including the figures of Mary and Joseph virtually lost in a mass of common peasants. It was an attempt to contemporise a key Biblical scene and not everyone was happy with the concept. It surely captures the difficulties of travel at Christmas time, still a very modern problem. #haveagreatchristmas
Pen Paint and Scalpel 