Netherlandish Proverbs

Click on the numbers in the image below to reveal the proverbs illustrated.

Please note: The vocabulary used in the translation of some of the proverbs is coarse in some instances; this reflects the colloquial nature of the original Netherlandish sayings.

This key is adapted from Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Netherlandish Proverbs and the Practice of Rhetoric by Mark A. Meadow (Zwolle, 2002).

This painting is one of the highlights of our Peasants and Proverbs: Pieter Brueghel the Younger as Moralist and Entrepreneur exhibition. Closes 22 January, admission is free.