Painting: Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel
Location: Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Hanging inside the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin is one of the most famous paintings of the 16th century. 64 x 46 inches of satirical brilliance depicting man’s folly and sinfulness in a world gone crazy.
Crafted in 1559, and titled The Netherlandish Proverbs (also called The Blue Cloak or The Topsy Turvy World), it is an oil-on-oak-panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, depicting a scene with literal illustrations of Dutch proverbs and idioms.
Bruegel was amongst the foremost Dutch proponents of the Renaissance known for his fascination and study of Dutch idioms through his work. This wasn’t his only attempt to bring this concept to life, but it went on to become his most seminal piece of work and 400 years later, people continue to marvel at it.
What makes this painting so famous ?
At a cursory glance it seems like a beautiful (but normal) village scene set on canvas, but a closer inspection reveals Bruegel’s dexterity of craft, and an outstanding display of satire in a frame where every sequence is seamlessly interconnected by form and yet disconnected by a meaningless set of actions.
A storytelling masterpiece of art imitating life.
There is the man who is (literally) “banging his head against the wall”, the nobel who is “throwing his money away into the water”, the woman who is “tying the devil to the pillow” and the man who is “putting a bell around a cat”. It takes a moment to sink in, but this is an absolute timeless piece of work transcending generations, geography and culture in its relevance.
Simply put, it is a metaphor of the society we live in. The village situated by the sea is a reminder of how most human settlements were formed in history. The space in the centre captures the everyday mundane acts that we as a society perform in our daily lives. The background, made up of a farmhouse, dilapidated huts, a stone bridge, a tower, and a village square at the centre bordered by cornfields, gives an accurate depiction of how mass human settlements grew (ie villages, towns and cities).
The different names of the painting are also beautifully captured in clues and motifs blended within the composition. The “Topsy Turvy World” is reflected by the picture of a globe hung upside down from a wall, covered by a Christian cross, capturing the impact of religion in people’s lives. At the centre of the painting is a woman placing a blue cloak (hence - The Blue Cloak) over her husband, indicating that she is cuckolding him. Every human character in this painting is acting a proverb, thereby giving the name it is know by today, “The Netherlandish Proverbs”.
If you have a moment, study every single isolated sequence on the picture above. You will go through a process of realisation and discovery which is humorous to say the least. The man biting into the wooden pillar is a hypocrite. The man who’s filling a pond after his calf drowned is one who takes action after a disaster. The two men defecating out of the same window are inseparable companions. While these ideas in isolation have no connection with each other, they blend in superbly creating a cohesive narrative which serves as a microcosm of the world we live in. Where so much does not make sense, and yet it all comes together in a beautiful messy middle.
There is scholarly debate on exactly how many idioms are on display in this painting, but critics believe there were about 112 proverbs that Bruegel was able to stitch together within an impressive 3000 square inches! It is an outstanding exhibition of artistic genius and a towering evidence of Bruegel’s pre-occupation with the spiritual and moral questions of his time, which give this painting its timeless validity. (since most of these questions remain relevant even today)
Art inspires, and exhibits like Pieter Bruegel’s “Netherlandish Proverbs” is precisely the reason why. You can always look for the 112 proverbs and even if you find a few less, it’s absolutely worth it.
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