Dutch Proverbs (David Teniers the Younger)
|
| Dutch proverbs |
|---|
| Oil on canvas |
| 129 × 207 cm |
| Belvoir Castle / Leicestershire |
Dutch Proverbs (Original: De spreekwoorden ) is a painting by David Teniers the Younger . It was made between 1645 and 1647. On Tenier's picture surface 49 proverbs, idioms and sentences are represented by one or more picture figures or motifs. With 45 individual figures or groups of figures, Teniers refers to the well-known oil painting “ The Dutch Proverbs ” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder . Tenier's painting shows the everyday life of a small village with people and animals, alone or in smaller and larger groups, each symbolizing a parable, a Dutch saying or a proverb. There are 49 proverbs in this painting that date from the 16th century or even earlier. In comparison, Bruegel's picture contains over 100 Dutch proverbs. At Teniers, 44 individual figures or groups of figures are based on Bruegel's original painting. The other five scenes from Teniers are a eating cat, a pig with tongs, a mill, two violinists playing on the roof and the cook with a pan in hand. These are not dependent on Bruegel's painting, but were created by Teniers with his own ideas. Through the metaphorical embodied proverbs, Teniers' paintings depict a perverted, godless world, e.g. B. deceit and self-deception, laziness, selfishness, jealousy and the futility of useless life. The painting is owned by the Duke of Rutland in Belvoir Castle , England.
description
Tenier's painting shows a village on a river near the sea, a place for the everyday life of its residents. Two houses as hostels with doors and roof windows occupy the left half of the picture. In front of it you can see a vacant space next to the river, on the right in the middle distance is a dilapidated, burning hut. A bridge spans the river in the middle distance. The figures move on the bridge and the number of figures is significantly fewer than in the foreground. Behind it you can see the cornfields and a windmill close to the forest on the rising hilly landscape. A few vague human and animal figures were depicted between the cornfields. The open sea can be seen in the background of the right corner of the picture. Teniers emphasized the landscape in the background very strongly. The figures behind are shown very small and unclear. This perspective creates a clearly structured composition and the visual of the viewer is brought down to the level of the mill. At the same time, this mill is also a vertex at which two diagonals cross in the middle of the picture.