The Dutch proverbs

The title of this article is ambiguous. A description of the painting by David Teniers the Elder J. is under Dutch Proverbs (David Teniers the Younger) .

The Dutch proverbs
Pieter Bruegel the Elder , 1559
Oil on oak
117 × 163 cm
Gemäldegalerie , Berlin

The Dutch Proverbs or The Flemish Proverbs is an oil painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder . The work, created in 1559, contains over 100 Dutch sayings and idioms. It has been in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie of the Berlin State Museums ( Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation ) since 1914 .

The paintings

Twelve proverbs (most of them can also be found in the large picture)

construction

The point of view of the viewer is in the middle, so the overview is preserved and details are easy to see. The height rises to the rear (gallows and sailboat are painted frontally). This angular shift creates an impression of additional spatial depth . As is often the case with Bruegel, the main axis runs across the picture from the lower left to the upper right corner. The “wrongly” painted frontal pancakes (top left) are probably a deliberate perspective deviation.

Content and interpretation

The everyday life and goings-on in a village on the seashore is depicted superficially. On the left side of a house wall hangs an upside down globe, it symbolizes the wrong, godless world, in which people go about their worldly doings like fools. Below the center of the picture you can see a woman in a red dress, highlighted in color, with a blue coat around her husband; she symbolizes that she is cheating on him. In the center of the picture the devil sits under a blue canopy, and there can be little doubt that he is the ruler of the world of images.

In his view of the world, Bruegel's painting ties in with the idea of ​​his time to understand the world as sinful, evil and foolish. Deception and self-deception, malice and weakness go hand in hand. In literary terms, the subject is equally vividly portrayed in Sebastian Brant's “ Ship of Fools ” and in Erasmus von Rotterdam's “In Praise of Folly ”.

According to historical sources, the picture was also titled “The Blue Coat” and “Upside Down World” in the 17th century.

background

Blauwe Huick by Frans Hogenberg (1558)

Collections of proverbs were common in Bruegel's time. Erasmus of Rotterdam published sayings and expressions by Latin authors as early as 1500, and Rabelais describes, among other things, an island of proverbs in his 1564 novel Pantagruel . Bruegel had also made a series of panel paintings in 1558 ( Twelve Proverbs , now in the Mayer van den Bergh Museum in Antwerp). In the same year, Hieronymus Cock published Frans Hogenberg's proverbs copperplate print Blauwe Huick (Blue Coat), from which Bruegel took much. The forty or so proverbs are inscribed. For the sake of clarity, the figures and objects in the background appear larger than the perspective would suggest.

The illustrated proverbs

An alphabetical list of the proverbs shown by clicking directly on the painting can be found at literatuurgeschiedenis.nl (sometimes a German translation is included). The aforementioned website also allows you to click directly on an image and learn the Dutch meaning.

Click on the picture to enlarge it

The following proverbs form part of the more than 100 illustrated sayings of the painting. The sayings figuratively placed in the picture have been numbered consecutively on the black and white picture.

number	Proverb (Dutch)	meaning	Image detail
1	Tie the devil on the pillow. (nl)	Overcoming the devil by stubbornness.
2	A pillar biter. (nl)	Someone is a hypocritical hypocrite.
3	She carries fire in one hand and water in the other. (nl)	Someone is a duplicitous person.
4th	Someone wants their head against the wall. (nl)	Stubbornly and carelessly trying something impossible.
4th	A shoe on one foot, the other barefoot. (nl)	Balance is crucial.
5	Shear them off, but don't flay them. (nl)	Do not sacrifice future returns for a short-term benefit; do not seek your advantage at any cost.
5	You have to shear the sheep to get your wool. (nl)	You have to do a job to get your wages.
6th	One shears sheep, the other piglets. (nl)	One lives in abundance, the other in need.
7th	Be patient as a lamb. (nl)	Be very patient.
8th	Put a blue coat on the man. (nl)	To cheat on someone.
9	He closes the well after the calf drowns. (nl)	No action is taken until it is too late.
10	Throw roses (pearls) in front of the pigs. (nl)	Waste on the unworthy.
11	Whoever wants to get through the world has to bend over. (nl)	If you want to become something, you have to adapt or make an effort.
12	He makes the world dance on the thumb. (nl)	Let others dance to his tune.
13	Everyone is scrambling for their advantage. (nl)	Everyone wants to win.
14th	Anyone who has spilled their porridge cannot collect everything again. (nl)	Damage cannot be repaired.
14th	Hold a stick in the wheel. (nl)	Sabotage someone.
15th	Hold on to the side of the purse. (nl)	Love hangs on the side of the purse; be oriented towards financial advantages.
16	A rake without a handle. (nl)	Something is useless.
17th	He goes from one loaf to another. (nl)	Not getting along with his money.
18th	Look for the hatchet. (nl)	Find a way out or an excuse.
18th	He can let his light shine. (nl)	Someone is good at showing what they can do.
18th	A big lantern with a little light. (nl)	A lot of talk with little sense behind it.
18th	Something has to be looked for with the lantern. (nl)	Something is hard to find.
18th	Throwing the ax at the trunk (nl)	To give something up.
19th	The herring doesn't fry here. (nl)	Something is not going according to plan.
19th	He fries the whole herring for the roe . (nl)	Sacrificing something big to achieve a little something.
19th	Wear a lid on your head. (nl)	Take responsibility for something.
19th	The herring hangs on its own gills. (nl)	You have to take responsibility for your actions.
19th	There's more to it than a fresh herring. (nl)	Not being able to see something at first glance.
19th	The smoke cannot harm the iron. (nl)	You have to accept what you cannot change.
20th	Here the sow pulls out the cone (nl)	Carelessness takes revenge.
21st	He hangs the bell on the cat (nl)	Trumpet a company and thereby endanger it.
22nd	Be armed to the teeth. (nl)	Be heavily armed.
22nd	Be in armor. (nl)	To be infuriated.
23	One gossips what the other is crazy. (nl)	Continue gossiping something.
23	Make sure that no black dog gets in the way. (nl)	Make sure something doesn't go wrong.
24	The pig was stabbed in the stomach. (nl)	Something is irrevocably decided.
25th	Two dogs on one leg (bone) rarely match. (nl)	To fight bitterly about something.
26th	He ties a flaky beard to God. (nl)	Fraud under the mask of hypocrisy.
27	She reaches for the chicken egg and lets the goose egg go. (nl)	Someone rashly makes a bad choice.
28	Someone stands in their own light. (nl)	Someone is proud of themselves.
28	Yawn in front of an oven. (nl)	Someone wants to achieve the impossible.
28	He tries to open his mouth wider than an oven door. (nl)	Someone overestimates their abilities.
28	Nobody looks for the other person in the oven if he has not put it in himself. (nl)	Only those who are bad themselves also think badly of others.
29	He falls through the basket. (nl)	Someone is seen through.
29	He hangs between heaven and earth. (nl)	Someone is in an awkward position.
30th	Find the dog in the pot. (nl)	To be late for dinner.
30th	He is sitting between two chairs. (nl)	Someone cannot make a decision; someone is on either side.
31	The scissors hang out there. (nl)	Bag tailoring
31	Gnaw at the bone. (nl)	Strive for something in vain for a long time.
32	Take care of unlaid eggs. (nl)	Worrying about something that hasn't happened yet.
33	He brings the light in the basket to the day. (nl)	Wasting your time uselessly.
34	Light candles for the devil. (nl)	Make everyone a friend.
35	Go to confession to the devil. (nl)	Revealing secrets to the enemy.
35	The Whisperer. (nl)	Telling bad things about someone.
36	The cock and the fox have invited each other to dinner. (nl)	Two scammers are always out for their own gain.
36	What use is a nice plate if there is nothing on it? (nl)	Physical needs come before sensual needs.
36	Standing with someone in the chalk. (nl)	Owe someone something.
36	Be a whisk. (nl)	Be a show-off.
37	The meat on the spit must be watered. (nl)	Some things need a lot of attention.
37	He catches the fish with his hands. (nl)	Someone benefits from the work of others.
37	You can't turn the tables with him. (nl)	You can't work with someone.
38	Sitting on hot coals. (nl)	To be impatient.
39	Wrong world. (nl)	Nothing is as it should be.
40	He doesn't give a shit about the world. (nl)	Despise the world.
41	The fools get the best cards. (nl)	Luck is with the stupid.
41	Grab each other by the nose. (nl)	Fooling each other.
41	The die is cast. (nl)	Something is decided.
42	It depends on how the cards fall. (nl)	Something depends on fate.
42	Look at something through the eye of the scissors. (nl)	Appropriating other people's property.
	Leave an egg in the nest. (nl)	Have a supply.
43	The pot hangs here. (nl)	Something is the opposite of what it should be.
43	He pisses against the moon. (nl)	Striving to achieve the impossible.
43	Laugh like a farmer who has a toothache. (nl)	Forced laugh.
44	Barber someone over the spoon. (nl)	To make fun of someone.
45	Fish behind the net. (nl)	Missing an opportunity.
46	The big fish eat the small ones. (nl)	The powerful enrich themselves at the expense of the weak.
47	Someone can't see the sun shining in the water. (nl)	To be ill-advised.
48	Swim against the current. (nl)	Revolt against general opinion.
49	The jug goes to the water until it breaks. (nl)	Everything has an end.
49	The widest straps are made from other people's leather. (nl)	It's easy to spend someone else's money.
49	Grab the eel by the tail. (nl)	Take on a difficult task.
50	He looks through the fingers. (nl)	If you have an advantage, you don't look very carefully to see whether things are right.
51	The knife is hanging there. (nl)	To challenge somebody.
52	There are wooden shoes. (nl)	Wait in vain.
53	Have a hole in the roof. (nl)	Don't be very intelligent.
53	An old roof needs a lot of repairs. (nl)	Old things require a lot of maintenance.
53	Someone has slats on the roof. (nl)	Be bugged.
54	Forward one arrow to the other. (nl)	False persistence.
54	Shoot his arrows. (nl)	Act too quickly.
55	Two fools under one hood. (nl)	A fool seldom comes alone.
55	Something grows out of the window. (nl)	Something cannot be kept secret.
56	He's playing on the pillory. (nl)	Draw attention to yourself when wrong.
57	Fall from ox to donkey. (nl)	Doing unfavorable business.
58	He rubs his bum on the door. (nl)	Override something.
58	Carry his package. (nl)	Bear his fate
58	Tense your shoulders. (nl)	Make an effort.
58	One beggar doesn't like to see the other standing at the door. (nl)	Fear the competition.
59	Something is hanging over the ditch like a shit house. (nl)	Something is an unequivocal matter.
59	Anyone can see through an oak beam if they have a hole. (nl)	There is no need to emphasize the obvious.
59	Two shit through the same hole. (nl)	Two are inseparable comrades.
60	He throws his money in the water. (nl)	Wasting your money uselessly.
60	A bad wall tears down quickly. (nl)	Something that is badly built breaks quickly.
61	Hang the cap in the hedge. (nl)	Giving up a job; finish a thing.
62	Someone sees the bear dance. (nl)	Be hungry.
62	Wild bears like to stay with their fellow animals. (nl)	Like to join in at the same time.
63	Stretch out the broom. (nl)	When the boss isn't around, the employees do what they want.
63	Be married under the broom. (nl)	Live together unmarried.
64	The roof is covered with flat cakes. (nl)	Live in abundance.
65	If the gate is open, the pigs run into the grain. (nl)	Without supervision, everything goes haywire.
65	What the farmer loses in grain, he pays back in bacon. (nl)	If one loses something, another will win.
66	He walks like he's got a fire in his butt. (nl)	Run fast.
66	Whoever eats fire shits sparks. (nl)	Anyone who undertakes dangerous actions need not be surprised at the consequences.
67	His cloak hanging on the wind. (nl)	Adjust his mind to the situation.
68	He kisses the ring on the door. (nl)	Be overly submissive.
69	She looks after the stork. (nl)	Waste your time.
69	You can recognize the bird by the feathers. (nl)	You can tell the character from the clothes; Children are similar to their parents.
70	Throw the feathers in the wind. (nl)	Work planless and unsuccessfully.
71	Killing two birds with one stone. (nl)	Complete two tasks with a single action.
72	He doesn't care whose house is on fire if he can only warm himself up by the fire. (nl)	Use every opportunity to your advantage.
73	He's dragging a log behind him. (nl)	Struggle for a lost or useless cause.
73	Even old women run in an emergency. (nl)	Unexpected situations can release surprising forces.
74	Ross apples are not figs. (nl)	You shouldn't be fooled.
75	When one blind leads the other, both fall into the ditch. (nl)	When one ignorant leads the other, there is calamity.
76	The journey is not over when you recognize the church and tower. (nl)	The goal of a company is only achieved when it is successful.
76	Nothing is so finely spun that the sun cannot make it visible. (nl)	Nothing can be hidden forever.
77	Keep an eye on the sail. (nl)	Be careful.
77	Sail before the wind. (nl)	Success is easy to achieve under favorable circumstances.
78	Who knows why the geese go barefoot? (nl)	Everything has a reason, even if it is not immediately apparent.
78	I am not called to herd goose, so I let goose be geese. (nl)	Don't interfere in other people's affairs if you don't have to.
79	Wherever there is carrion, crows fly. (nl)	Wherever there is something to be found, many people come together.
80	He shits on the gallows. (nl)	Don't be afraid of punishment.

Others

The painting is featured on the cover of the music album Fleet Foxes by the band of the same name .

See also

• List of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

literature

• Altmann, Sarah: Is old Bruegel still alive? Pieter Bruegel's "The Dutch Proverbs" (1559) in Europe today. Greifswald, Univ.Press, 2013.
• Britta Juska-Bacher: Empirical-contrastive phraseology. Using the example of the popularity of the Dutch proverbs in Dutch, German and Swedish . Schneider-Verl. Hohengehren, Baltmannsweiler 2009, ISBN 978-3-8340-0549-6 (dissertation).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rainald Grosshans: The Dutch proverbs. In: SMB Digital. Retrieved July 14, 2020 . 
2. ^ Rose-Marie and Rainer Hagen: Pieter Bruegel the Elder Ä. Peasants, fools and demons . Benedikt Taschen, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-8228-8951-2 , p. 61 .
3. ↑ ^{a b} Pieter Bruegel the Elder Ä. Farmers, fools and demons p. 34
4. ^ Christian Vöhringer: Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Painting, Everyday Life and Politics in the 16th Century; a biography . Stuttgart: Reclam 2013 ISBN 978-3-15-010898-7 pp. 66-67
5. ↑ Michael Tremmel: Pop + Renaissance  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   on the website of the Musikexpress' ; Retrieved July 24, 2013

Web links

Commons : The Dutch proverbs  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Lilo Berg: Proverbs outlast the centuries. In: Berliner Zeitung . July 24, 2007, accessed July 10, 2015 . 
• literatuurgeschiedenis.nl