This narrative figure composition by Bruegel is a classic example of how to use a high eye level.

At first glance, this painting looks like a catalogue of children's games. However, the longer you look at it, the more you question what you are seeing.

Why has Bruegel chosen to set this scene in the 'adult arena' of public buildings like the town hall?

Why are there no adults to be seen?

Is this a realistic image of children at play or does it suggest another meaning? If you look at the range of games being played:

some are gentle and caring (a wedding game);

some are rough and bullying (hair pulling);

some are played alone (a girl with her doll);

some are team games (tug o' war on 'horseback');

some are competitive (see-saw on a barrel);

some are skillful (jacks);

some are imaginative (horse racing);

and some are reckless (disturbing a bee-hive).

Children have always imitated adult behaviour in their games. Today we understand how they reflect their experience of adult life in their play.

However, what does this mean to an adult in 1560, in an age when children had few rights and little psychological understanding?

Is this town centre, swarming with restless children, an allegorical scene of chaos and social disorder?

Is Breugel using 'Children's Games' as a metaphor to suggest that there is not much difference between the fantasy and tomfoolery of children's games and the ignorance and irresponsibility of adult society in his day?

Is the painting a warning to adults that they need to take heed of their conduct, if they want their lives to amount to anything more than the frivolous antics of 'Children's Games'?

Bruegel was well known for his moralistic paintings and engravings of 16th century peasant life. These are often set against dramatic backgrounds which portray the changing landscape across the seasons.

However, when you look past his subject matter to examine how Bruegel organises his pictures, you find a rare visual intelligence that continues to inspire today.

Bruegel understands better than any artist in his century, how to compose figures in a landscape.

'Children's Games' is a complex painting with about 250 children involved in over 80 games. Bruegel uses a high eye level to view the scene from above. This allows him to arrange the children into smaller groups which may be viewed separately without any overlap. The viewer can then clearly identify every child in the picture.

He also assembles the groups into lanes formed by the receding lines of perspective. This imposes a sense of rhythm and order over a very complex picture and allows the viewer to experience the apparent chaos in a more comfortable way.

(Mouse over the image to view an analysis of this effect.)

Note how he attaches a symbolic importance to the town hall by placing it in the centre of the picture. Its facade exactly divides the top of the painting into three sections. To the right of the building is a stark view of the town where the 'games' stretch towards the horizon. In contrast a peaceful image of the countryside fills the left third of the painting. Is this a wry comment on mans' awkward attempts to impose his built environment upon the natural beauty of creation?