It's great news that Pieter Bruegel the Younger's painting The Procession to Calvary is to stay in Britain. This morning, the campaign to save this late Renaissance masterpiece for the nation was able to announce victory, after generous public donations were topped up by a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
Bruegel's painting – which we celebrated in G2 and an online interactive last autumn – is a rich and surprising work. It is a picture from the time of Shakespeare that has an epic sweep reminiscent of one of his history plays. Just as Shakespeare's histories are crowded with ordinary people making or witnessing history, mingling the high drama of politics with earthy humour, so the tragic scene of Christ's journey to the hill where he will die is imagined as tumultuous, abundant and resonantly human. Peasants, children, merchants and vagrants witness a procession on the outskirts of what is manifestly a contemporary Flemish town: thieves on carts and – above all – soldiers who sternly resemble Spanish forces occupying the low countries bring this story right into the heart of Bruegel's era.
The Art Fund and the National Trust came together to appeal for donations to keep the painting on public view in Britain. It has been on display in Nostell Priory in Yorkshire and will continue to do so, permanently. But it is now more famous than it ever was, owing to a cleverly managed campaign that saw it exhibited in the National Gallery.
This is an interesting victory because it defies expectations. First, art lovers have given money to this cause even in difficult economic times. And second, they have done this for a painting that is not of astronomical celebrity, by the younger Pieter Bruegel, less famous than his renowned father.
But none of that stops The Procession to Calvary being a powerful work. It is about human cruelty and human theatre – a biting work of art in which we can recognise our own world. It is also a demonstration of something vital: the history of art is a delicate web of connections, influences and lesser-known achievements, and a civilised country must value every old painting on its merits, and honour the collectors of the past who enriched stately homes as well as national museums. All in all, a lovely piece of news with which to start the year.
