Kermis (detail); ; The Peasant Dance (detail);

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was famous for painting scenes from peasant life and here he depicts a kermis, a fair or church holiday. The festivities take place in the village square, with a tavern on the left and the church in the distance. Bruegel painted the peasants as monumental figures, robust but also awkward in their movements. The use of greens and browns highlights the earthiness of the men and women who earn their living from the land. The scene depicts drunkenness, immorality, and indignity and many have interpreted this image as carrying didactic overtones, exaggerating the foolish an... Mehr ...