Netherlandish Proverbs.pdf

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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.


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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 havenever 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

No. Proverb Meaning Area Image

1 To even be able to tie the devil to

a pillow

Obstinacy overcomes everything Lower

left

2 To be a pillar-biter To be a religious hypocrite Lower

left

3 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

4 To bang one's head against a

brick wall

To try to achieve the impossible Lower

left

5 One foot shod, the other bare Balance is paramount Lower

left

6 The sow pulls the bung Negligence will be rewarded with Lower


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disaster left

7 To bell the cat To carry out a dangerous or

impractical plan

Lower

left

8 To be armed to the teeth To be heavily armed Lower

left

9 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


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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)

Middl

e left

21 The scissors hang out there They are liable to cheat you there Upper

left

22 To always gnaw on a single bone To continually talk about the same

subject

Upper

left

23 It depends on the fall of the cards It is up to chance Upper


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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


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32 There stand the wooden shoes To wait in vain Upper

left

33 To stick out the broom To have fun while the master is away Upper

left

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


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will run into the corn middle

48 Where the corn decreases the pig

increases

If one person gains then another must

lose

Upper

middle

49 To run like one's backside is on

fire

To be in great distress Upper

middle

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

54 To want to kill two flies with one

stroke

To be efficient (equivalent to today's

To kill two birds with one stone)

Upper

middle

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


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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 shineon the water

To be jealous of another's success Middle

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


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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 Upperright

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


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74 Everything, however finely spun,

finally comes to the sun

Nothing can be hidden forever Upper

right

75 To keep one's eye on the sail To stay alert, be wary 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


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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


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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

To pull to get the longest end To attempt to get the advantage Lower

right

10

1

To stand in one's own light To behave contrarily to one's own

happiness or advantage

Lower

right


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10

2

No one looks for others in the

oven who has not been in therehimself

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


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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


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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.


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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.

Documents

Netherlandish Proverbs.pdf