Open full image Pin

Pieter Brueghel de Oude. Nederlandse spreekwoorden Detail: De ene rokkent wat de andere spint

Pieter Brueghel the Elder

1559

unspecified

From the collection of Catholic University of Leuven

Northern Renaissance Renaissance Renaissance Genre Scene

Dominant colour

Pieter Brueghel de Oude. Nederlandse spreekwoorden Detail: De ene rokkent wat de andere spint is a 1559 unspecified by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, a Northern Renaissance work, held at Catholic University of Leuven.

Who painted this?: Pieter Brueghel the Elder
When & what style?: 1559 · Northern Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Catholic University of Leuven

About this work

This painting shows a village street packed with tiny figures doing absurd things. A man ties ribbons to a pig’s tail. Another roasts a loaf on his head. A woman feeds cheese to a mouse. The Dutch title says it all: one man spools thread while another wastes wool. Brueghel packed 120 proverbs into one scene. It’s like a visual joke book for the 1500s. Wondering who made all these crazy images? Look up Pieter Brueghel I.