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WGA WEB GALLERY OF ART EUROPEAN ART, 3RD CENTURY – EARLY 20TH
Netherlandish Proverbs - BRUEGHEL, Pieter the Younger - WGA

21 — SELECTION

Netherlandish Proverbs

COMMENTARY

Pieter Brueghel the Younger copied his father's popular painting the original of which now hangs in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin.

More than a hundred proverbs and idiomatic expressions have been identified, describing "topsy-turvy" ways of behaviour. This explains the other name occasionally given the painting, that of The Topsy-Turvy World. Some of the artist's proverbs are still in use today. Other painted sayings come closer to metaphor.

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@online{wga-re4c9e49302599b,
  author       = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
  title        = {Netherlandish Proverbs (selection)},
  organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
  date         = {2026-09-13},
  url          = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/brueghel-pieter-the-younger-rd39c46a0d5d4e1/selections/re4c9e49302599b},
  urldate      = {2026-09-13},
  langid       = {english}
}

ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.

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