The Large Wedding Feast
1560
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1560
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Large Wedding Feast is a 1560 by Peeter van der Borcht, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a crowded wedding feast in a village square—dancers, musicians, and long tables piled with food. The bride sits alone at the center, arms crossed, staring blankly while guests eat and drink around her. This etching pokes fun at peasant life, but the bride’s empty table is strange. In 16th-century Netherlands, the bride wasn’t supposed to eat at her own wedding. Van der Borcht turns a folk tradition into a quiet joke, making her the odd one out. To see more scenes like this, look up *subject: netherlands*.
