This 450-Year Old Painting Contains Over 100 Hidden Proverbs We Still Use Today

While scrolling through some interesting paintings, I stumbled upon a fascinating 450-year old painting that encapsulates over 100 hidden proverbs and idioms identified in the English language. Some of them are still in popular use.

The Netherlandish Proverbs!

It is an oil-on-oak painting that was created by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the 15th century. 

Pieter Bruegel the Elder is one of the most celebrated artists in the Dutch Renaissance. His body of work included paintings that revolved around the life of peasants that included vivid depictions of the rituals of village life. 

Children's games, Peasant Wedding, The Peasant and the nest robber are a few of his artistic masterpieces that illustrate how intricately so many elements and characters are entwined to portray a small world itself. In addition to the minute details, he made sure to convey human sins including foolishness, greed, or gluttony.

Coming back to Bruegel's most notable artwork, the Netherlandish Proverbs depicts the figurative representations in a comprehensive spatial setting that unfold more than 100 proverbs. The proverbs are hidden in the landscape that is sometimes grotesque but highly imaginative.

The Blue Cloak, the composition's original title, is featured in the center of the piece.  

The village is shown near the sea with dilapidated huts and in the distance is the open sea shining in the sun of a late summer's day.

The strong reds and blues on the canvas set the pace from the iconographic point of view and demarcate the scenes of folly and sin. The blue cloak and topsy turvy world are depicted on the left side of the painting and red in general denotes cheating and betrayal.

Christ, in a blue garb, sitting on a red chair is the victim of treachery and folly of a monk. 

Bruegel's intent was not just to illustrate the proverbs, but to unmask human folly and the dangers of folly which lead to sin. 'The upside-down world' is depicted by the globe standing on its head and we live in a place in which nothing is as it should be.

This is a classic example of Le monde renverse (The reverse world).

The horse is riding on a man. The rabbit is hunting a human. A complete upside-down world. 

Some of the proverbs and idioms that stood out for me in the painting are -

1. To be a pillar-biter - which means To be a religious hypocrite.

2. To bang one's head against a brick wall - To try to achieve the impossible

3. The scissors hang out there- They are liable to cheat you there

4. To lead each other by the nose- To fool each other

5. To be pissing against the moon - To waste one's time on a futile endeavor

6. Here hangs the pot - It is the opposite of what it should be

7. To play on the pillory - is to attract attention to one's shameful and foolish acts.

8. To kiss the ring of the door - is to not be genuine and resort to flattery.

9. To be unable to see the sunshine on the water (middle) - is to be jealous of others' success.

10. To throw one's money into the water - To waste one's money

11. To fall through the basket - To have your deception uncovered

12. To keep the hen's egg and let the goose's egg go - To make a bad decision

13. She puts the blue cloak on her husband - She is cheating on her partner.

14. The pig is stabbed through the belly- are the actions that are not rollbacked.

15. To tie a flaxen beard to the face of Christ - is to hide your sins under the name of religion and God.

Finally

This "proverb painting" is a classic amalgamation of literature and art. Bruegel's intense imagination of the moral and spiritual ideas of his time gives the work its timeless validity.

What do you think about this painting?

References-

1. The Dutch Proverbs

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