THE PAINTING CYCLE “THE SEASONS” BY PIETER BRUEGHEL THE ELDER: CALENDAR SYMBOLISM AND ITS INTERPRETATION

The author explores the paintings of the cycle "The Seasons", or "Months" by the great Dutch artist of the XVI century Pieter Brueghel the Elder. This work suggests analyzing the problem of the presentation of syncretic images of time, calendar symbols and Christian religious concepts embodied in the artist's work using the example of his painting cycle. In his article, the author intends to identify his originality associated with the traditional iconography of the seasons, manifested in literature, almanacs, and horologues. An attempt is made to interpret the calendar symbols of the Brueghel cycle for a variety of levels of interpretation from everyday to philosophical. The author also focuses on the potential for further study of the panoptic concept of the artist's vision