The dance of the bride, Pieter Bruegel the Elder from the old master collection

About "The dance of the bride, Pieter Bruegel the Elder"

About the artwork

The dance of the bride is an old copy after Pieter Bruegel I ((Breda) 1526/ 1530 - Brussels 1569).

Early on, makers of tide books used peasants to indicate the progress of the year. Working peasants, who performed other activities at other times of the year, showed how the world worked. It was structured as a feudal class society and consisted of those who were the nobility who fought, the clergy who prayed and the peasants who worked. The oldest depictions show hard-working peasants. From the mid-16th century, however, more and more scenes appear in which they relax. Many of these representations go back to examples by Pieter Brueghel I. The partying, sinning and languid peasants went completely against contemporary morals that glorified a devout, civilised and industrious life. The distinguished citizens built their status themselves and depended on it. They could therefore quickly lose that respect. The peasants, however, had nothing to lose and indulged in licentious behaviour, so The Dance of the Bride shows the peasants letting themselves go completely wild. They are engaged in a wild dance, which is nothing like the stiff dances of rich bourgeois. These danced indoors in line, keeping arms and legs pressed against the body. Even the education always insisted on controlling one's movements. Losing control of one's body was out of the question, especially in public. There