Netherlandish Proverbs Netherlandish Proverbs

Artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder Year 1559 Type Oil-on-panel Dimensions 117 cm 163 cm (46 in 64 in) Location Gemldegalerie, Berlin Netherlandish Proverbs (Dutch: Nederlandse Spreekwoorden; also called Flemish Proverbs, The Blue Cloak or The Topsy Turvy World) is a 1559 oil-on-oak-panel painting by the Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder that depicts a scene in which humans and, to a lesser extent, animals and objects, offer literal illustrations of Dutch language proverbs and idioms. Running themes in Bruegel's paintings are the absurdity, wickedness and foolishness of humans, and this is no exception. The painting's original title, The Blue Cloak or The Folly of the World, indicates that Bruegel's intent was not just to illustrate proverbs, but rather to catalog human folly. Many of the people depicted show the characteristic blank features that Bruegel used to portray fools. His son, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, specialised in making copies of his father's work and painted at least 16 copies of Netherlandish Proverbs. Not all versions of the painting, by father or son, show exactly the same proverbs and they also differ in other minor details. History Proverbs were very popular in Breugel's time and before; a hundred years before Breugel's painting, illustrations of proverbs had been popular in Flemish books of hours. A number of collections were published, including Adagia, by the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus. The French writer Franois Rabelais employed significant numbers in his novel Gargantua and Pantagruel, completed in 1564. The Flemish artist Frans Hogenberg made an engraving illustrating 43 proverbs in around 1558, roughly the same time as Bruegel's painting. The work is very similar in composition to Breugel's and includes certain proverbs (like the blue cloak) which also feature prominently in Netherlandish Proverbs. By depicting literal renditions of proverbs in a peasant setting, both artists have shown a "world turned upside down". Bruegel himself had painted several minor paintings on the subject of proverbs including Big Fish Eat Little Fish (1556) and Twelve Proverbs (1558), but Netherlandish Proverbs is thought to have been his first large-scale painting on the theme.

Proverbs

Critics have praised the composition for its ordered portrayal and integrated scene. There are approximately 112 identifiable idioms or proverbs in the scene, although Bruegel may have included others which cannot be determined. Some of those incorporated in the painting are still in popular use, for instance "Swimming against the tide", "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 (1567). The Blue Cloak, the piece's original title, features in the centre of the piece and is being placed on a man by his wife, indicating that she is cuckolding him. Other proverbs indicate human 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 sitting 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 may also represent the advice "Shear them but don't skin them", meaning make the most of available assets. List of proverbs featured in the painting Expressions featured in the painting Proverb Meaning To even be able to tie the devil to Obstinacy overcomes everything a pillow

No. 1

Area Lower left

Image

To be a pillar-biter

To be a religious hypocrite

Lower left

Never believe someone who carries fire in one hand and water in the other

To be two-faced and to stir up trouble

Lower left

To bang one's head against a brick wall

To try to achieve the impossible

Lower left

One foot shod, the other bare

Balance is paramount

Lower left

The sow pulls the bung

Negligence will be rewarded with

Lower

disaster

left

To bell the cat

To carry out a dangerous or impractical plan

Lower left

To be armed to the teeth

To be heavily armed

Lower left

To put your armor on

To be angry

Lower left

10

One shears sheep, the other shears pigs

One has all the advantages, the other none

Lower left

11

Shear them but do not skin them

Do not press your advantage too far

Lower left

12

The herring does not fry here

It's not going according to plan

Lower left

13

To fry the whole herring for the sake of the roe

To do too much to achieve a little

Lower left

14

To get the lid on the head

To end up taking responsibility

Lower left

15

The herring hangs by its own gills

You must accept responsibility for your own actions

Lower left

16

There is more in it than an empty herring

There is more to it than meets the eye

Lower left

17

What can smoke do to iron?

There is no point in trying to change the unchangeable

Lower left

18

To find the dog in the pot

To arrive too late for dinner and find all the food has been eaten

Lower left

19

To sit between two stools in the ashes

To be indecisive

Lower left

20

To be a hen feeler

To depend on an uncertain outcome (c.f. to count one's chickens before they hatch) They are liable to cheat you there

Middl e left

21

The scissors hang out there

Upper left

22

To always gnaw on a single bone

To continually talk about the same subject It is up to chance

Upper left Upper

23

It depends on the fall of the cards

left

24

The world is turned upside down

Everything is the opposite of what it should be

Upper left

25

Leave at least one egg in the nest

Always have something in reserve

Upper left

26

To crap on the world

To despise everything

Upper left

27

To lead each other by the nose

To fool each other

Upper left

28

The die is cast

The decision is made

Upper left

29

Fools get the best cards

Luck can overcome intelligence

Upper left

30

To look through one's fingers

To turn a blind eye

Upper left

31

There hangs the knife

To issue a challenge

Upper left

32

There stand the wooden shoes

To wait in vain

Upper left Upper left

33

To stick out the broom

To have fun while the master is away

34

To marry under the broomstick

To live together without marrying

Upper left

35

To have the roof tiled with tarts

To be very wealthy

Upper left

36

To have a hole in one's roof

To be unintelligent

Upper left

37

An old roof needs a lot of patching up

Old things need more maintenance

Upper left

38

The roof has lathes

There could be eavesdroppers (The walls have ears)

Middl e left

39

To have toothache behind the ears

To be a malingerer

Middl e left

To be pissing against the moon

To waste one's time on a futile endeavour

Middl e left

41

Here hangs the pot

It is the opposite of what it should be

Middl e left

42

To shoot a second bolt to find the first

To repeat a foolish action

Upper left

43

To shave the fool without lather

To trick somebody

Middl e

44

Two fools under one hood

Stupidity loves company

Middl e

45

It grows out of the window

It cannot be concealed

Middl e

46

To play on the pillory

To attract attention to one's shameful acts

Upper middle

47

Where the gate is open the pigs

Disaster ensues from carelessness

Upper

will run into the corn

middle

48

Where the corn decreases the pig increases To run like one's backside is on fire

If one person gains then another must lose To be in great distress

Upper middle Upper middle

49

50

He who eats fire, craps sparks

Do not be surprised at the outcome if you attempt a dangerous venture

Upper middle

51

To hang one's cloak according to the wind

To adapt one's viewpoint to the current opinion

Upper middle

52

To toss feathers in the wind

To work fruitlessly

Upper middle

53

To gaze at the stork

To waste one's time

Upper middle Upper middle

54

To want to kill two flies with one stroke

To be efficient (equivalent to today's To kill two birds with one stone)

55

To fall from the ox onto the rear end of an ass

To fall on hard times

Upper middle

56

To kiss the ring of the door

To be obsequious

Upper middle

57

To wipe one's backside on the

To treat something lightly

Upper

door

middle

58

To go around shouldering a burden

To imagine that things are worse than they are

Upper middle

59

One beggar pities the other standing in front of the door

Being afraid for competition

Upper middle

60

To fish behind the net

To miss an opportunity

Middl e

61

Sharks eat smaller fish

Anything people say will be put in perspective according to their level of importance

Middl e

62

To be unable to see the sun shine on the water

To be jealous of another's success

Middl e

63

It hangs like a privy over a ditch

It is obvious

Middl e

64

Anybody can see through an oak plank if there is a hole in it

There is no point in stating the obvious

Middl e

65

They both crap through the same hole

They are in agreement

Middl e

66

To throw one's money into the water

To waste one's money

Middl e

67

A wall with cracks will soon collapse

Anything poorly managed will soon fail

Middl e right

68

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

Middl e right

69

To drag the block

To be deceived by a lover or to work at a pointless task

Upper right

70

Fear makes the old woman trot

An unexpected event can reveal unknown qualities

Upper right

71

Horse droppings are not figs

Do not be fooled by appearances

Upper right

72

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

Upper right

73

The journey is not yet over when one can discern the church and steeple

Do not give up until the task is fully complete

Upper right

74 75

Everything, however finely spun, finally comes to the sun To keep one's eye on the sail

Nothing can be hidden forever To stay alert, be wary

Upper right Upper right

76

To crap on the gallows

To be undeterred by any penalty

Upper right

77

Where the carcass is, there fly the crows

If there's something to be gained, everyone hurries in front

Upper right

78

It is easy to sail before the wind

If conditions are favourable it is not difficult to achieve one's goal

Upper right

79

Who knows why geese go barefoot?(

There is a reason for everything, though it may not be obvious

Upper right

80

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

Upper right

81

To see bears dancing

To be starving

Right

82

Wild bears prefer each other's company

Peers get along better with each other than with outsiders

Right

83

To throw one's cowl over the fence

To discard something without knowing whether it will be required later

Right

84

It is ill to swim against the stream

It is difficult to oppose the general opinion

Right

85

The pitcher goes to the water until it finally breaks

Everything has its limitations

Right

86

The broadest straps are cut from someone else's leather

One is quick to expend belongings that aren't their own

Right

87

To hold an eel by the tail

To undertake a difficult task

Right

88

To fall through the basket

To have your deception uncovered

Right

89

To be suspended between heaven and earth

To be in an awkward situation

Right

90

To take the hen's egg and let the goose's egg go

To make a bad decision

Right

91

To yawn against the oven

To attempt more than one can

Lower

manage

right

92

To be barely able to reach from one loaf to another

To have difficulty living within budget

Lower right

93

A hoe without a handle

Probably something useless

Lower right

94

To look for the hatchet

To try to find an excuse

Lower right

95

Here he is with his lantern

To finally have an opportunity to show a talent

Lower right

96

A hatchet with a handle

Probably signifies "the whole thing"

Lower right

97

He who has spilt his porridge cannot scrape it all up again

Once something is done it cannot be undone

Lower right

98

To put a spoke in someone's wheel

To put up an obstacle, to destroy someone's plans

Lower right

99

Love is on the side where the money bag hangs

Love can be bought

Lower right

10 0 10 1

To pull to get the longest end

To attempt to get the advantage

Lower right Lower right

To stand in one's own light

To behave contrarily to one's own happiness or advantage

10 2

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

Lower right

10 3

To have the world spinning on one's thumb

To have every advantage

Lower right

10 4

To tie a flaxen beard to the face of Christ

To hide deceit under a veneer of Christian piety

Lower right

10 5

To have to stoop to get on in the world

To succeed one must be willing to make sacrifices

Lower right

10 6

To cast roses before swine

To waste effort on the unworthy

Lower middle

10 7

To fill the well after the calf has already drowned

To take action only after a disaster (Compare: "Shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted")

Lower middle

10 8

To be as tame as a lamb

Someone who is exceptionally calm or gentle

Lower middle

10 9

She puts the blue cloak on her husband

She deceives him

Lower middle

11 0

Watch out that a black dog does not come in between

Mind that things don't go wrong

Lower middle

11 1

One winds on the distaff what the other spins

Both spread gossip

Lower middle

11 2

To carry the day out in baskets

To waste one's time

Middl e

11 3

To hold a candle to the Devil

To flatter and make friends indiscriminately

Middl e

11 4

To confess to the Devil

To reveal secrets to one's enemy

Middl e

11 5

The pig is stabbed through the belly

A foregone conclusion or what is done can not be undone

Middl e

11 6

Two dogs over one bone seldom agree

To argue over a single point

Middl e

11 7

To be a skimming ladle

To be a parasite or sponger

Middl e

11 8

What is the good of a beautiful plate when there is nothing on it?

Beauty does not make up for substance

Middl e

11 9

The Fox and the Stork dine together

Two deceivers always keep their own advantage in mind

Middl e

12 0

To blow in the ear

To spread gossip

Middl e

12 1

Chalk up a debt

To owe someone a favour

Middl e

12 2

The meat on the spit must be basted

Certain things need constant attention

Middl e

12 3

There is no turning the spit with him

He is uncooperative

Middl e

12 4

To sit on hot coals

To be impatient

Middl e

12 5

To catch fish without a net

To profit from the work of others

Middl e

Modern use A cropped version of this painting is used as the cover of the American indie folk band Fleet Foxes' self-titled release.

Notes The condition of the painting makes it almost impossible to make out the dog. a b The exact proverb depicted is not known with certainty. a b The exact meaning of the proverb is not known. This proverb clearly derives from Aesop's Fables The Fox and the Stork.