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Pieter Brueghel the Younger , Flemish, 1564-1638

Title

Peasant Wedding

Date1620

MediumOil on wood panel

Dimensions

81.5 x 105.2 cm

Signedlower left: P. Breghel. 1620

Credit LinePurchased, 1928

Object numberNGI.911

DescriptionPieter Brueghel the Younger continued the tradition of crude and caricatured peasant scenes of his father, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Indeed, many of Pieter the Younger’s compositions are bold and bright variations of well-known compositions by his father. Pieter the Younger occasionally created his own original works, which, given their frequent appearance in Antwerp inventories, sold well. However, he never achieved the artistic success of his father or his younger brother Jan.
Peasant Wedding mocks the behaviour of peasants during a marriage feast. The painting evidently appealed to Brueghel’s clients, as he replicated it many times. Its attraction lies in its animated and amusing portrayal of Flemish peasants who are enjoying a country wedding. The bride looks down demurely at her dowry plate, as an old woman to her right grabs the money pouch from one of the guests. The figures are deliberately caricatured and comical, as they drink, dance and flirt with each other.

March 2016
ProvenancePrivate collection, Ireland; Messrs L. Wine, Dublin; purchased, Messrs L. Wine, Dublin, 1928Exhibition HistoryExposition Internationale Coloniale, Maritime et d'Art Flamand, Antwerp, 1930

Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October - December 1964

Il Museo dei Gonzaga Storia e fortuna delle Collezioni Ducali da Guglielmo Gonzaga fino al Sacco di Mantova, Pallazo del Te, Mantua, 22 September 2002 - 12 January 2003

Lines of Vision. Irish Writers at the National Gallery of Ireland, 8 October 2014 —12 April 2015

Label TextPieter Brueghel the Younger continued the tradition of crude and caricatured peasant scenes that his father, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, had popularised. Peasant Wedding mocks the behaviour of peasants during a marriage feast. The painting evidently appealed to Brueghel’s clients, as he replicated it many times. Its attraction lies in its animated and amusing portrayal of Flemish peasants who are enjoying a country wedding. The bride looks down demurely at her dowry plate, as an old woman to her right grabs the money pouch from one of the guests. The figures are deliberately caricatured and comical.