Netherlandish Proverbs
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.
Expressions featured in the painting
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
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 very wealthy
To have a hole in one’s roof
To be unintelligent
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
Do not be fooled by appearances
If the blind lead the blind both will fall in the ditch
There 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
To be starving
Wild bears prefer each other’s company
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
Men cut the largest straps from other men’s leather/It is easy to take from others work.
To hold an eel by the tail
To undertake a difficult task
To fall through the basket
To have your deception uncovered
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
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”
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
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
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.
References
Rainer Hagen (2000). Rose-Marie Hagen. ed. Bruegel: The Complete Paintings. Taschen. pp. 96. ISBN 3822859915.
Patrick De Rynck (1963). How to Read a Painting: Lessons from the Old Masters. New York: Abrams. pp. 379. ISBN 0810955768.
“”The Netherlandish Proverbs” by Pieter Brueghel the Younger”. Fleming Museum, University of Vermont. 2004. http://www.uvm.edu/~fleming/index.php?category=exhibitions&page=netherlandish. Retrieved 18 May 2007.
The Netherlandish Proverbs: An International Symposium on the Pieter Brueg(h)els, ed. by Wolfgang Mieder. University of Vermont. 2004.
See also
Fleet Foxes (2008) – album features the painting on the cover art
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Netherlandish Proverbs (Bruegel)
Categories: Pieter Brueghel the Elder paintings | 1559 paintings | Dutch paintingsHidden categories: Pages containing cite templates with deprecated parameters
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Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1/3)
