Dutch Proverbs (Dutch:
The running theme in Bruegel's painting is the absurdity, evil and stupidity of man, and this is no exception. The original title of the painting, The Blue Cloak or The Folly of the World , shows that Bruegel's intention is not only to illustrate the proverb, but rather to the catalog of human folly. Many of the people depicted showed the typical blank features that Bruegel used to describe fools.
His son, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, specializes in making copies of his father's works and painting at least 16 copies of Proverbs' Netherlands. Not all versions of paintings, by fathers or children, show exactly the same proverb and they are also different in other minor details.
Video Netherlandish Proverbs
History
Context
Proverbs are very popular in Bruegel and earlier times; a hundred years before Bruegel's paintings, the proverbs illustrations have been popular in Flemish's books for hours. A number of collections were published, including Adagia , by Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus. The French writer FranÃÆ'§ois Rabelais used significant numbers in his novel Gargantua and Pantagruel , which was completed in 1564.
Flemish artist Frans Hogenberg made an engraving illustrating 43 proverbs around 1558, roughly at the same time as Bruegel's. This work is very much like a composition for Bruegel and includes certain proverbs (like a blue cloak) that also stands out in Netherlandish Proverbs . By describing the literal translation of the proverb in the background, both artists have shown "the world upside down".
Bruegel himself has painted several minor paintings on the subject of the proverb including Big Fish Eat Little Fish (1556) and Twelve Proverbs (1558), but Dutch Proverbs i> is considered his first large-scale painting of the theme.
Maps Netherlandish Proverbs
Proverbs and idioms
The critics praised this composition for its regular portrayal and unified scenes. There are approximately 112 identifiable proverbs and idioms in the scene, although Bruegel may include others that can not be determined because of language changes. Some of those in the painting are still popular, such as " Swimming against the Current ", " Beating someone's head against a brick wall " and " Armed with teeth ". Many more are fading from usage, which makes painting analysis even more difficult. " has a person's roof with tart ", for example, which means having many things and is a picture that Bruegel will later display in his beautiful painting of Land of Cockaigne (1567).
The Blue Cloak , the original title of the work, is in the middle of the piece and placed on a man by his wife, which shows that he is cuckolding him. Other proverbs show human folly. A man fills the pool after his son dies. Right above the central figure of a man in blue robes, another man brings daylight in a basket. Some figures seem to represent more than one figure (whether this is Bruegel's intention or not unknown), like a man who shaved a sheep at the bottom left of the image. He sits next to a man cutting a pig, thus representing the expression "One shears sheep and one pig scissor ", which means that someone has an edge over another, but may also represent the suggestion " Slide them but do not skin them ", meaning to take advantage of most of the available assets.
List of proverbs and idioms displayed in the painting
Inspiration for another painting
This painting has inspired others to portray many proverbs in their paintings, as well. An illustration of the Hong Kong Passion Times magazine illustrates dozens of Cantonese proverbs. Proverbidioms paintings are also inspired by this Dutch painting to depict English proverbs and idioms.
Trivia
This painting is featured on Fleet Foxes' self-titled first full-length album cover.
Note
References
- Hagen, Rainer (2000). Hagen, Rose-Marie, ed. Bruegel: Complete Painting . Taschen. ISBN 3827859915.
- De Rynck, Patrick (1963). How to Read a Painting: Lessons from the Old Masters . New York: Abrams. ISBN: 0810955768.
- "The Netherlandish Proverb by Pieter Brueghel the Younger". Fleming Museum, University of Vermont. 2004 . Retrieved May 18 2007 . Mieder, Wolfgang (2004). "The Netherlandish Proverbs: An International Symposium on Pieter Brueg (h) els". University of Vermont .
- Dundes, Alan and Claudia A. Stibbe (1981). The Art of Mixing Metaphors: Folkloristic Interpretation of Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder . Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia Academia Scientiarum Fennica. ISBN: 9514104242.
Further reading
Orenstein, Nadine M. (ed.) (2001). Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Picture and Print . Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN: 9780870999901. CS1 maint: Additional text: author list (link)
External links
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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