Netherlandish Proverbs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Netherlandish Proverbs |
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559 |
Oil-on-panel |
117 × 163 cm, 46 × 64 in |
Staatliche Museen, Berlin |
Netherlandish Proverbs (also called The Blue Cloak or The Topsy Turvy World) is a 1559 oil-on-oak-panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder which depicts a land populated with literal renditions of Flemish proverbs of the day. The picture is overflowing with references and most of the representations can still be identified; while many of the proverbs have either been forgotten or never made the transition to the English language, some are still in use. Proverbs were popular during Bruegel's time: a number of collections were published including a famous work by Erasmus. Frans Hogenberg had produced an engraving illustrating about 40 proverbs in around 1558 and Bruegel himself had painted a collection of Twelve Proverbs on individual panels by 1558 and had also produced Big Fish Eat Little Fish in 1556, but Netherlandish Proverbs is thought to be the first large scale painting on the theme. Rabelais depicted a land of proverbs in his novel Pantagruel soon after in 1564.
Bruegel's paintings have themes of the absurdity, wickedness and foolishness of mankind, and this painting is no exception. The picture was originally entitled The Blue Cloak or The Folly of the World which indicates he was not intending to produce a mere collection of proverbs but rather a study of human stupidity. Many of the people depicted show the characteristic blank features which Bruegel used to portray fools. His son, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, specialised in making copies of his father's work, and painted up to twenty copies of Netherlandish Proverbs. Not all versions of the painting, by father or son, show exactly the same proverbs, also differing in other details.
Contents |
[edit] Detail
There are around 100 identifiable idioms in the scene (although Bruegel may have included others). Some are still in use today, amongst them: "swimming against the tide", "big fish eat little fish", "banging one's head against a brick wall" and "armed to the teeth", and there are some that are familiar if not identical to the modern English usage, such as "casting roses before swine". Many more have faded from use or have never been used in English, "having one's roof tiled with tarts" for example which meant to have an abundance of everything and was an image Bruegel would later feature in his painting of the idyllic Land of Cockaigne . The Blue Cloak referred to in the painting's original title is being placed on the man in the centre of the picture by his wife. This was indicative that she was cheating on him. Other proverbs indicate mankind's foolishness: a man fills in a pond after his calf has died, just above the central figure of the blue-cloaked man another man carries daylight in a basket. Some of the figures seem to represent more than one figure of speech (whether this was Bruegel's intention or not is unknown), such as the man shearing a sheep in the centre bottom left of the picture. He is sat next to a man shearing a pig, so represents the expression "one shears sheep and one shears pigs" meaning that one has the advantage over the other, but he may also represent the advice "shear them but don't skin them" meaning make the most of your assets.
Proverb | Meaning | Location |
---|---|---|
To even be able to tie the devil to a pillow | Obstinacy overcomes everything | |
To be a pillar-biter | To be a religious hypocrite | |
To carry fire in one hand and water in the other | To be two-faced and to stir up trouble | |
To bang one's head against a brick wall | To try to achieve the impossible | |
One foot shod, the other bare | Balance is paramount | |
The sow pulls the bung | Negligence will be rewarded with disaster | |
To bell the cat | To be indiscreet about plans that should be secret | |
To be armed to the teeth | To be heavily armed | |
To be an iron-biter | To be boastful/ indiscreet | |
One shears sheep, the other shears pigs | One has all the advantages, the other none | |
Shear them but do not skin them | Do not press your advantage too far | |
The herring does not fry here | Things do not go according to plan | |
To fry the whole herring for the sake of the roe | To do too much to achieve a little | |
To get the lid on the head | To end up taking responsibility | |
The herring hangs by its own gills | You must accept responsibility for your own actions | |
There is more in it than an empty herring | There is more to it than meets the eye | |
What can smoke do to iron? | There is no point in trying to change the unchangeable | |
To find the dog in the pot | To arrive too late to prevent trouble | [2] |
To sit between two stools in the ashes | To be indecisive | |
To be a hen feeler | To count one's chickens before they hatch | |
The scissors hang out there | They are liable to cheat you there | |
To always gnaw on a single bone | To continually talk about the same subject | |
It depends on the fall of the cards | It is up to chance | |
The world is turned upside down | Everything is the opposite of what it should be | |
Leave at least one egg in the nest | Always have something in reserve | |
To shit on the world | To despise everything | |
To lead each other by the nose | To fool each other | |
The die is cast | The decision is made | |
Fools get the best cards | Luck can overcome intelligence | |
To look through one's fingers | To be indulgent | |
There hangs the knife | To issue a challenge | |
There stand the wooden shoes | To wait in vain | |
To stick out the broom | To have fun while the master is away | |
To marry under the broomstick | To live together without marrying | |
To have the roof tiled with tarts | To be living in the lap of luxury | |
To have a hole in one's roof | To be simple | |
An old roof needs a lot of patching up | Old things need more maintenance | |
The roof has lathes | There could be eavesdroppers (The walls have ears) | |
To have toothache behind the ears | To be a malingerer | |
To be pissing against the moon | To waste one's time on a futile endeavour | |
Here hangs the pot | It is the opposite of what it should be | |
To shoot a second bolt to find the first | To repeat a foolish action | |
To shave the fool without lather | To trick somebody | |
Two fools under one hood | Stupidity loves company | |
It grows out of the window | It cannot be concealed | |
To play on the pillory | To attract attention to one's shameful acts | |
Where the gate is open the pigs will run into the corn | Disaster ensues from carelessness | |
Where the corn decreases the pig increases | If one person gains then another must lose | |
To run like one's backside is on fire | To be in great distress | |
He who eats fire, shits sparks | Do not be surprised at the outcome if you attempt a dangerous venture | |
To hang one's cloak according to the wind | To adapt one's viewpoint to the current opinion | |
To toss feathers in the wind | To work fruitlessly | |
To gaze at the stork | To waste one's time | |
To want to kill two flies with one stroke | To be efficient (equivalent to today's To kill two birds with one stone) | |
To fall from the ox onto the ass | To fall on hard times | |
To kiss the ring of the door | To be insincere | |
To wipe one's backside on the door | To treat something lightly | |
To go around shouldering a burden | To imagine that things are worse than they are | |
One beggar pities the other standing in front of the door | ||
To fish behind the net | To miss an opportunity | |
Big fish eat little fish | ||
To be unable to see the sun shine on the water | To be jealous of another's success | |
It hangs like a privy over a ditch | It is obvious | |
Anybody can see through an oak plank if there is a hole in it | There is no point in stating the obvious | |
They both shit through the same hole | They are in agreement | |
To throw one's money into the water | To waste one's money | |
A wall with cracks will soon collapse | Anything poorly managed will soon fail | |
To not care whose house is on fire as long as one can warm oneself at the blaze | To take every opportunity regardless of the consequences to others | |
To drag the block | To be deceived by a lover or to work at a pointless task | |
Fear makes the old woman trot | An unexpected event can reveal unknown qualities | |
Horse droppings are not figs | Don not be fooled by appearances | |
If the blind lead the blind both will fall in the ditch | The is no point in being guided by others who are equally ignorant | |
The journey is not yet over when one can discern the church and steeple | Do not give up until the task is fully complete | |
Everything, however finely spun, finally comes to the sun | Nothing can be hidden forever | |
To keep one's eye on the sail | To stay alert, be wary | |
To shit on the gallows | To be undeterred by any penalty | |
Where the carcass is, there fly the crows | If the evidence points to something it is likely to be true | |
It is easy to sail before the wind | If conditions are favourable it is not difficult to achieve one's goal | |
Who knows why geese go barefoot? | There is a reason for everything, though it may not be obvious | |
If I am not meant to be their keeper, I will let geese be geese | Do not interfere in matters that are not your concern | |
To see bears dancing[3] | To be starving | |
Wild bears prefer each other's company[3] | Peers get along better with each other than with outsiders | |
To throw one's cowl over the fence | To discard something without knowing whether it will be required later | |
It is ill to swim against the stream | It is difficult to oppose the general opinion | |
The pitcher goes to the water until it finally breaks | Everything has its limitations | |
The best straps are cut from somebody else's leather | It is better to take advantage of someone else's work | |
To hold an eel by the tail | To undertake a difficult task | |
To fall through the basket | To be rejected | |
To be suspended between heaven and earth | To be in an awkward situation | |
To take the hen's egg and let the goose's egg go | To make a bad decision | |
To yawn against the oven | To attempt more than one can manage | |
To be barely able to reach from one loaf to another | To have difficulty living within budget | |
A hoe without a handle | Probably something useless[4] | |
To look for the hatchet | To try to find an excuse | |
Here he is with his lantern | To finally have an opportunity to show a talent | |
A hatchet with a handle | Probably signifies "the whole thing"[4] | |
He who has spilt his porridge cannot scrape it all up again | Once something is done it cannot be undone | |
To put a spoke in someone's wheel | To put up an obstacle, to destroy someone's plans | |
Love is on the side where the money bag hangs | Love can be bought | |
To pull to get the longest end | To attempt to get the advantage | |
To stand in one's own light | To be proud of oneself | |
No one looks for others in the oven who has not been in there himself | To imagine wickedness in others is a sign of wickedness in oneself | |
To have the world spinning on one's thumb | To have every advantage | |
To tie a flaxen beard to the face of Christ | To hide deceit under a veneer of Christian piety | |
To have to stoop to get on in the world | To succeed one must be devious | |
To cast roses before swine | To waste effort on the unworthy | |
To fill the well after the calf has drowned | To take action only after a disaster | |
To be as patient as a lamb | To be very patient | |
She puts the blue cloak on her husband | She deceives him | |
Watch out that a black dog does not come in between | When two women are together a barking dog is not needed to add to the trouble they will cause | |
One winds on the distaff what the other spins | Both spread gossip | |
To carry the day out in baskets | To waste one's time | |
To hold a candle to the Devil | To flatter and make friends indiscriminately | |
To confess to the Devil | To reveal secrets to one's enemy | |
The pig is stabbed through the belly | A foregone conclusion or what is done can not be undone | |
Two dogs over one bone seldom agree | To argue over a single point | |
To be a skimming ladle | To be a parasite or sponger | |
What is the good of a beautiful plate when there is nothing on it? | Beauty does not make up for substance | |
The fox and the crane entertain each other | Two deceivers always keep their own advantage in mind[5] | |
To blow in the ear | To spread gossip | |
To chalk up | To make sure to remember | |
The meat on the spit must be basted | Certain things need constant attention | |
There is no turning the spit with him | He is uncooperative | |
To sit on hot coals | To be impatient | |
To catch fish without a net | To profit from the work of others |
[edit] Notes
- ^ From a list detailing the proverbs and meanings published by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and reproduced in Hagen pp.36-7.
- ^ The dirt on the painting makes it almost impossible to make out the dog here.
- ^ a b The exact proverb depicted is not known with certainty.
- ^ a b The exact meaning of the proverb is not known.
- ^ This is a reference to one of Aesop's Fables.
[edit] References
- Rainer Hagen (2000). in Rose-Marie Hagen: Bruegel: The Complete Paintings. Taschen, 96. ISBN 3822859915.
- Patrick De Rynck (1963). How to Read a Painting: Lessons from the Old Masters. New York: Abrams, 379. ISBN 0810955768.
- "The Netherlandish Proverbs" by Pieter Brueghel the Younger. Fleming Museum, University of Vermont (2004). Retrieved on 18 May 2007.
- The Netherlandish Proverbs: An International Symposium on the Pieter Brueg(h)els, ed. by Wolfgang Mieder. University of Vermont. 2004.
[edit] See also
- Fleet Foxes (2008) - album features the painting on the cover art