[The] paintings of Pieter Brueghel the Elder had a profound influence on the writing of Aldous Huxley. Huxley seems to have been attracted to Brueghel's attitude toward life. Both artists saw individuals as isolated, yet forming a pattern of existence. Both saw a juxtaposition of tragedy and comedy as the nature of both life and art. Both were fascinated recorders of social customs and events. Both celebrated life above art, seeing art as a tool to record reality rather than an ideal to shape reality. And because of their similar attitudes, Huxley used a number of Brueghel's painting techniques in prose.

The key to understanding the Huxley-Brueghel relationship lies in Huxley's 1925 essay on the artist, which appeared in Along the Road….

[Here] Huxley analyzes a number of Brueghel's paintings on the bases of both formal construction and literary meaning. (p. 365)

But the real importance of Brueghel to Huxley...