PIETER BRUEGHEL THE YOUNGER (Circle) (BRUSSELS 1578 – ANTWERP 1638) Flemish Proverbs c. 1610 Oil on canvas 113.5 x 162 cm Provenance: Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 31 October 1981, lot 91; Private collection. Bibliography: Klaus ERTZ, Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1637/8): Die Gemälde mit kritischem Oeuvrekatalog, Lingen, 2000, vol. I, p. 75 Rebecca DUCKWITZ, ‘The Devil is in the Detail. Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Netherlandish Proverbs and copies after it from the workshop of Pieter Brueghel the Younger’, in Brueghel Enterprises, exhibition catalogue, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, 2001–2002, pp. 59–79. This monumental composition represents one of the high points of Flemish iconography, a veritable ‘encyclopaedia of the human condition’ featuring more than a hundred proverbs and popular expressions. Conceived by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1559, this visionary work has enjoyed exceptional enduring popularity thanks to the studio of his son, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, who ensured its dissemination amongst the greatest collectors of the era. This painting occupies a prominent place in art history: it is officially catalogued and described by the world-renowned expert Klaus Ertz in his authoritative catalogue raisonné. Its inclusion in this seminal work confers upon it the status of a documented work, cementing its historical significance and its place within Brueghel’s oeuvre of the 17th century. The execution is striking for its remarkable rigour and clarity of detail, characteristic of a painter who has perfectly mastered the master’s repertoire. As Klaus Ertz points out, this is a work of great precision, faithful to the tradition and spirit of the Brueghels. Its dimensions, which are exactly the same as those of the original held at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, suggest the use of the original transfer tracings, a practice reserved for the workshops closest to the family lineage. This technical proximity places our work at the heart of the ‘Brueghel Enterprise’, that elite production structure where the demand for fidelity to the original drawing was the rule. Every scene, from the famous ‘blue coat’ symbolising deceit to the ‘upside-down world’, is rendered here with a satirical verve that retains all its critical force and biting humour. Rare on the market due to its pedigree and publication, this version represents a major opportunity for collectors to acquire a key milestone in European culture. It bears witness to a time when art served as a mirror to the follies of the world, through skilful composition and a technique of surgical precision that continues, four centuries later, to captivate the eye.