Dutch Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder Postcard

The Dutch Proverbs (also called The Netherlandish Proverbs) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559, is an intricate oil and tempera landscape painting with a multitude of figures depicting popular proverbs of the day. Bruegel jams dozens of proverbs into a single composition, illustrating everything from the man at left banging his head against a brick wall, to the man trying to catch an eel by the tail, to the blind leading the blind. Many of these proverbs are still in use today. Pieter Bruegel (Brueghel) the Elder (c. 1525 - 1569) was a Dutch/Flemish painter and printmaker of the Northern Renaissance. Among the first artists to incorporate subject matter from landscape and the life of common people, Bruegel all but invented the art of Dutch genre painting. Bruegel painted a number of religious works but is best known for his lively, allegorical paintings of peasants and witty commentary and on life, sin and virtue. His innovative compositions and carefully observed, realistic details influenced many generations of artists, from Rembrandt through the Realists of the modern era.