A work of art can open a window that allows us to get a better view of the challenges of our own time. For example, a Flemish Renaissance painting portraying the ancient Greek myth of Daedalus and his son Icarus provides unique insights into the excesses of the market economy, as well as recent efforts to rein them in.
PARIS – Balancing corporate social responsibility (CSR), which implies a long-term vision of how businesses can contribute to the broader social good, with a company’s daily operations is a formidable task. To understand this dynamic, and the challenges that it poses, we would do well to ditch the spreadsheets and seek insight in a sixteenth-century Flemish Renaissance masterpiece: Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, attributed to Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Viewed from the right perspective, Bruegel’s portrayal of the ancient Greek myth of Daedalus and his son Icarus provides unique insights into the excesses of the market economy, as well as recent efforts to rein them in.
PARIS – Balancing corporate social responsibility (CSR), which implies a long-term vision of how businesses can contribute to the broader social good, with a company’s daily operations is a formidable task. To understand this dynamic, and the challenges that it poses, we would do well to ditch the spreadsheets and seek insight in a sixteenth-century Flemish Renaissance masterpiece: Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, attributed to Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Viewed from the right perspective, Bruegel’s portrayal of the ancient Greek myth of Daedalus and his son Icarus provides unique insights into the excesses of the market economy, as well as recent efforts to rein them in.