Pieter Bruegel the Elder
This is one of Bruegel’s Wimmelbilder: busy pictures. The large composition is teeming with countless figures seen from above. The elevated viewpoint allows us to see all the events and activities taking place simultaneously on the main square of a small town.
Bruegel depicts contemporary Flemish customs of Carnival and Lent in loving detail. All the action takes place between the inn and the church. The left is dominated by the inn and Prince Carnival, personified by a stout drunkard. On the right are the church and Lady Lent, head to toe in grey.
The two antagonists are armed and about to break lances with each other. Of course, this is not a real joust. Prince Carnival is brandishing a roasting spit loaded with various kinds of meat, while Lady Lent is attacking him with a bread peel full of herrings.
It is all an act, on both sides of the composition and by members of all classes alike: the greedy (sham) cripples as much as the hypocritical rich burghers who reduce faith to customs such as Lent and public displays of charity. They all are competing for their own advantage.
We present today's painting thanks to Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna where you now can visit the world's first ever major monograph of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. About half of all the extant works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder are on view there. It's a must-see for all art lovers—but if you can't be in Vienna, today and for the next two Sundays you can see him in DailyArt. :)