Bruegel's <i>Netherlandish proverbs</i>and Correspond-ing Images in Old Japanese Art

Abstract

Summary Among old Dutch proverbs and those in Japanese there are many similar views of life, wisdom and moral lessons, even though the phrasing may differ. The present author discusses twelve proverbs from Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Netherlandish Proverbs (1559) in Berlin and corresponding old Japanese proverbs and sayings in Japanese art to compare expressions, items of each proverb, meaning, degree of morality and other concerns. The present author also refers to some literary (Erasmus, Anna Bijns, Donaes Idinau and Carolus Tuiman and other literati) as well as visual background (misericords, engravings by Frans Hogenberg, Nicolaes Clock and other artists) before and after Bruegel's time as parallel examples. Proverbs in Ukiyoe, illustrations of proverb books, and cartoons by Japanese artists, such as those by Utagawa Toyokuni the Elder, Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Kawanabe Kyôsai, make good comparisons of Bruegel's work. Bruegel's representation of “Casting roses before swine”corresponds to Kuniyoshi's “Gold coins to a cat.”Both indicate almost the same meaning to give valuable advice or things to those who are unable to appreciate them. However, Bruegel's “He falls from the ox onto the ass”is meant to denote falling from a higher position to a lower one, while Kyôsai's “To jump from a cow to a horse”signifies the opposite situation; that is, a man exchanges his old wife for a young wife. In general, Japanese proverbial images give us the impression of a more comic and humorous sentiment than we find in Bruegel's didactic world.