Conversation Pieces by ACC Art Books

FOREWORD Manfred Sellink

The (scientific) literature on Pieter Bruegel the Elder is almost endless and with the memorial year of 2019 in sight, the number of publications is only increasing. What is striking is that the artist is being approached from a wide range of perspectives and disciplines, from traditional art-historical to anthropological, from intuitive-stylistic to high-tech material-technical, from factual- historical to speculative-interpretative. Another defining feature of the literature on Bruegel is the virtual lack of any interdisciplinary approach and teamwork. Instead, individual researchers work according to their specific expertise within their own discipline and traditional methodology. The present publication is a fine and fascinating demonstration of the fact that this situation is changing, that things can evolve and that such developments are rewarding! A publication about Pieter Bruegel in which the prestigious Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Flemish Open-Air Museum of Bokrijk, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam with its collection of preindustrial household objects, and the idiosyncratic voice of author Abdelkader Benali join forces is a highly unusual and, to many, perhaps, rather unexpected undertaking. But it is, in fact, a logical collaboration. In the great, once-in-a-lifetime retrospective

exhibition of the master’s work in autumn 2018, together with the team of curators, we expressly opted for the creative process as the connecting thread. What makes Bruegel’s drawn and painted works so special, and how did he make them — from a technical, stylistic and compositional perspective? No less importantly, how did Bruegel look and what did he look at — predecessors, contemporaries, humankind, nature and his direct (material) environment? The book you have before you grew out of these questions. The intriguing question as to what household objects are visible in Bruegel’s work is certainly not new. In the field of local history, this subject has been studied by Jozef Weyns — the driving force behind the Bokrijk institution – for instance in his Bruegel in de leer voor honderd-en-een dagelijkse dingen (1969). In art history and especially in the scientific literature on Bruegel, such publications remained, for a number of reasons, marginal and largely unnoticed. When developing the Bokrijk Open-Air Museum, Weyns explicitly had in mind the visual world that Bruegel had created. Therefore the collaboration between Vienna and Bokrijk as a centre of expertise for (im)material everyday heritage in Flanders was an obvious choice. That

also holds true for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, where research has been ongoing for 25 years on ALMA (www.alma.boijmans.nl/en/). Initiated by Alma Ruempol, a curator who passed away too early and a former colleague of mine, this is a database that links depictions of pre-industrial objects in paintings and prints with ‘real’ historical objects. The result is a solid and innovative body of expertise in the field of interdisciplinary research into household objects represented in art from the Low Countries. So, an ideal partner for both Vienna and Bokrijk. One of the insights that has come to the fore in recent years in the research on Pieter Bruegel is that his work must be placed in the tradition of the so-called convivium, a Latin word that can mean both ‘feast’ and ‘guests’. In the urban and humanist culture of the Low Countries in the 16th century, the act of dining together with friends, acquaintances and kindred spirits was the ideal setting for profound conversations on various issues – and these conversations also evolved around what could be seen in the paintings that hung in the dining room or were passed around as prints. Works by Bruegel were ideal conversation pieces thanks to their complex compositions, several layers of meaning that resist imme diate readings, visual riddles, humour and depth, and a wealth of magnificently painted details that beg to be observed, dissected and discussed.

It is in line with this tradition that it was decided to offer up this publication as a printed convivium to a broad public of readers and viewers. A single painting hangs in the dining room, where it dominates the conversation: The Battle between Carnival and Lent, one of the 12 masterpieces from the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. As was done in Bruegel’s time, the authors observe and discuss this painting from all sides, dissecting it with particular attention to everyday objects, as something that is still as topical and meaningful today as when it was made — about 450 years ago. In this regard, the contribution of Abdelkader Benali is of essential importance. With a gaze that is both sharp and poetic, he observes and interprets what Bruegel can mean to him and to us today. His texts breathe intrinsically humane compassion and tie in nicely with the essential undertone of the painter’s oeuvre. The authors have prepared a feast for you. You are among the guests and are invited to take part in the viewing and the conver sation. This convivium is a feast for the eyes, tickles the mind and soothes the soul. The authors and all those involved deserve to be praised for this original and significant publication. I am speculating, but I am convinced that Pieter Bruegel himself, who like no other could observe the world around him and translate it into a visual universe that is at once time-bound and time-less, would fully appreciate this festive fare.

Your house is anything but silent: not only the walls, but even the cup has something to say here. Desiderius Erasmus, Convivium religiosum (The Godly Feast), 1522

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 Foreword

Manfred Sellink

An original look at Pieter Bruegel’s

Sabine Pénot

1. BATTLE

2. CARNIVAL

3. THE INNS AND THE RHETORICIANS

4. CHILDREN’S GAMES

5. CHURCH

BAT TLE BETWEEN CARNIVAL AND LENT (1559) from the perspective of the household objects depicted in it

104 6. LENT Art-historical introductions:

Katrien Lichtert

117 Bibliography 119

Photo credits

120 Colophon

Object descriptions:

Alexandra van Dongen & Lucinda Timmermans

Stories:

Abdelkader Benali

M O N E Y P OT 16 An earthenware money pot is depicted twice in Bruegel’s painting — to collect money after the performance of two street shows: Valentine and Orson and The Dirty Bride. These popular theatrical performances also recur as two distinct compositions in prints after designs by Bruegel (ill. 24 and 25). Made of earthenware, the money pot was shaped like a female breast, in which the potter cut a slit with a knife for the coins. When the pot was full, it was smashed so that the contents could be retrieved. Representations of Carnival processions in paintings and prints often show this type of money pot for collecting money. Bruegel transformed the money pot into a gigantic symbol in a drawing that Pieter van der Heyden used for the print The Battle about Money (ill. 26). An army of soldiers in the form of life-size money pots battles against coffers and stokbeurzen, coin purses with stickshaped handles. Thrift takes it up against richness and waste, Bruegel seems to be saying.

Money pot, earthenware, 1550–1600

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( ill. 26 ) Pieter van der Heyden, after Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Battle about Money, after 1570

MONEY POT He who gambles, loses. He who saves, wins. But the bet evokes a stronger feeling than the desire to save. Few people can remember when they started to save, for how long they’ve been saving. Even fewer can get enthusiastic about it. But many a person who has gambled and won, or gambled and lost, can remember it like yesterday. If people have to choose between the sense of saving and the desire to gamble, they’ll always say something like, ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’. But really, if you could look into their hearts, you’d see that many long for the moment when fate smiles on them. The aversion to saving has to do with

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the uncertain times we’re living in. We don’t want to think further ahead than tomorrow because we sense that tomorrow can only bring trouble. A person who saves, on the other hand, assumes that there’ll be another tomorrow after tomorrow, one in which they can invest their hoarded fortune. What pride! What an arrogance as well! I put the fallible man or woman to the test. Particularly in times of pestilence and stagnation, when life is shortened by plagues and deception, people don’t tend to look further than the bottom of their beer mug; after all, tomorrow is more likely to bring death than rest. Why should you save if there’s nothing to save for? Besides, whoever saves gambles with their life, especially in countries where there’s disease and hunger. A person like that is soon tainted. Someone who watches the pennies and saves for the future is soon regarded as miserly. Someone who saves will already be someone who has acquired a lot of wealth, must — so they say — already be rich. And wealth that has been earned with frugality, there’s a curse on it. Many a saver has been robbed of his pot by unsavoury types consumed by jealousy, poor of spirit. I am also made of clay and vulnerable. I can take a lot, but a bad knock and I’m done for.

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C L U B 17 A N D C R O S S B O W 18 In the background at the far left, three armed and costumed men are performing the play Valentine and Orson. It tells the story of twin brothers who were separated at birth and grew up apart. Valentine is brought up at court to be a knight. Orson is raised in the woods by a she-bear; his name (from the French ourson) means ‘bear cub’. Orson looks like the stereotypical wild man, with leaves for clothing, long hair and a beard, and, as befits a real wild man, he carries a primitive weapon. This particular type of club, the so-called morning star, has iron spikes around its thicker portion. It is not surprising that the wild man — the exemplar of a primitive being — is depicted on many inn signs: his portrait can be seen as a warning against untamed behaviour as a consequence of excessive alcohol consumption. Valentine walks behind Orson with a crossbow. This weapon consists of a wooden shaft, with a square iron head at the front and a short wooden bow, to which a powerful string is attached. Once the string has been tightened, the crossbow is armed. Later, crossbows were no longer tightened by hand but with a spanner.

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Orson and Valentine are followed by King Pépin, who is wearing a gold robe and a crown and carrying a sword, the combat weapon par excellence. The best iron was used in its manufacture, with carbon added to turn the material into steel, reinforcing it in the process. A good sword must also be flexible, so that the blade does not break. Defensive and offensive weapons were collectively called were, which is the Dutch word for ‘defence’. Regulations were posted in various towns compelling the inhabitants to carry certain weapons on them, so that they could defend the town if necessary.

Crossbow, wood, steel, iron, bone, 16th century

WILD MAN My brother and I had nothing to do with the battle that split us up. Our mother was left to her fate. Fleeing men who had behaved like animals, she gave birth to us in a dark forest. That’s where we were left to our fate. My brother was found by people. And me? The king of the forest, a bear, took pity on me. What

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COLOFON Authors Abdelkader Benali, author

Alexandra van Dongen, curator Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

Katrien Lichtert, content coordinator Bokrijk Open-Air Museum (The World of Bruegel)

Sabine Pénot, curator Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Bruegel–The Hand of the Master)

Manfred Sellink, general director and head curator, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp

Lucinda Timmermans, junior curator Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders for all texts, photographs and reproductions. If, however, you feel that you have inadvertently been overlooked, please contact the publisher.

Acknowledgements Elke Oberthaler, Manfred Sellink, Ron Spronk and Alice Hoppe-Harnoncourt, co-curators Bruegel–The Hand of the Master – Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Director general Sabine Haag ‒ Director of the Picture Gallery Stefan Weppelmann ‒ Creative director Stefan Zeisler ‒ Graphic design Michaela Noll ‒ Photography Andreas Uldrich ‒ Image editors Sanela Antic, Michael Eder, Thomas Ritter ‒ General manager of publications Franz Pichorner ‒ Publication manager Benjamin Mayr ‒ KHM shop manager Christoph Paidasch – Karin Zeleny – Publication department and translation – Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Director Domain Bokrijk Liesbeth Kees – Curator Bokrijk Open-Air Museum Hilde Schoefs – Collection manager Bokrijk Open-Air Museum Lore Parade – Project leader The World of Bruegel Terenja van Dijk – Domain Bokrijk

Image account managers Amy van Harten, Froukje van der Meulen – Photographer Vivian Pawirodikromo – Project assistant registration Manon Schooneman – Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Copy-editing Cath Phillips Translation Patrick Lennon (Dutch-English) Michael Lomax (German-English, Sabine Pénot essay) Graphic design Dooreman Project coordination Pascale Goossens and Jenke Van den Akkerveken Printing die Keure, Bruges Binding die Keure, Bruges isbn 978 949267 769 3 d/2018/11922/35 nur 646

Hannibal Publishing is part of Cannibal Publishing

Special thanks to Deputy Igor Philtjens, chairman Board of Directors Domain Bokrijk and deputy for Tourism, Culture and heritage and the members of the Board of Directors of Domain Bokrijk – Governor Herman Reynders – The deputation – Province of Limburg

David Maenaut, General Representative of the Flemish Government in Austria