Information about Netherlandish Proverbs

Netherlandish Proverbs

Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1559

Oil-on-panel

117 × 163 cm, 46 × 64 inches

Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Netherlandish Proverbs (also called The Blue Cloak or The Topsy Turvy World) is a 1559 oil-on-oak-panel painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder which depicts a land populated with literal renditions of Flemish proverbs of the day. The picture is overflowing with references and most of the representations can still be identified; while many of the proverbs have either been forgotten or never made the transition to the English language, some are still in use. Proverbs were popular during Brueghel's time: a number of collections were published including a famous work by Erasmus. Frans Hogenberg had produced an engraving illustrating about 40 proverbs in around 1558 and Brueghel himself had painted a collection of Twelve Proverbs on individual panels by 1558 and had also produced Big Fish Eat Little Fish in 1556, but Netherlandish Proverbs is thought to be the first large scale painting on the theme. Rabelais depicted a land of proverbs in his novel Pantagruel soon after in 1564.

Brueghel's paintings have themes of the absurdity, wickedness and foolishness of mankind, and this painting is no exception. The picture was originally entitled The Blue Cloak or the Folly of the World which indicates he was not intending to produce a mere collection of proverbs but rather a study of human stupidity. Many of the people depicted show the characteristic blank features which Breughel used to portray fools. His son, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, specialised in making copies of his father's work, and painted up to twenty copies of Netherlandish Proverbs.

Detail

There are around 100 identifiable idioms in the scene (although Breughel 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 Breughel 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 Brueghel'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.

Proverbs in the painting^[1]

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	[2]
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 living in the lap of luxury
To have a hole in one's roof	To be simple
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 can not 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 (equivelent 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	Don not be fooled by appearances
If the blind lead the blind both will fall in the ditch	The 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[3]	To be starving
Wild bears prefer each other's company<ref name="unknown" />	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	It is better to take advantage of someone else's work
To hold an eel by the tail	To undertake a difficult task
To fall through the basket	To be rejected
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[4]
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"<ref name="unknownm" />
He who has spilt his porridge can not scrape it all up again	Once something is done it can not 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[5]
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

References

• Rainer Hagen (2000). in Rose-Marie Hagen: Bruegel: The Complete Paintings. Taschen, 96. ISBN 3822859915. 
• Patrick De Rynck (1963). How to Read a Painting: Lessons form the Old Masters. New York: Abrams, 379. ISBN 0810955768. 
• "The Netherlandish Proverbs" by Pieter Brueghel the Younger. Fleming Museum, University of Vermont (2004). Retrieved on 18 May 2007.