Created after 1570 by Johannes Galle after an original drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Printed on fine, laid paper with wide margins all around, this work is a State D impression (Bastelaer) created after Pieter van der Heyden’s engraving, featuring Galle’s additional inscriptions of text from the Old Testament written in Latin, French, and Flemish.

Along the lower margin, two sets of three distinct verses are inscribed – first in Latin and followed by Flemish, translated below:

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“Quid modo diuitie, quid fului vasta metalli

Congeries, nummis arca referta nouis

Illecebres inter tantas, atque agmina furum

Inditium cunctis efferus vncus erit

Preda facit furem, feruens mala cuncta ministrant

Impetus, et spolys apta rapina feris.”

[The savage hook will reveal to all the riches, the vast heap of gleaming metal, the strong box stuffed with new coins among these great enticements, and the ranks of thieves.  Booty makes the thief, the assault that serves all evil helps him, and so does the pillage suitable for furious spoils.]

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“Wel aen ghÿ Spaerpotten, Tonnen, en Kisten

Tis al om gelt en goet, dit striden en twisten

Al seetmen v ooc anders, willet niet gheloven

Daerom vueren wÿ den haec die ons noÿt en misten

Men soeckt wel actie om ons te verdooven

Maer men souwer niet krÿgen, waerder niet te rooven.”

[Go to it, you money-boxes, barrels and chests.  It’s all about gold and goods, this fighting and quarreling.  Even if someone tells you otherwise, don’t believe it.  Therefore we bear the hook which never has failed us.  They try to find means to silence us, but they shall not find it unless there were nothing to rob.]

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Full of contrasting detailed imagery, the picture plane is packed full with very little space between objects and figures.  This highly engaging work draws the viewer in with the commotion and energy expressed with the technical skill and mastery of the artist in addition to the high degree of depth and volume displayed in this work.

According to Manfred Sellink (2001), the socio-economic climate of Antwerp during this time period may have served as an inspiration for this work.  It serves as a statement of humanity that has been plagued by greed, avarice, and wealth.  Chaos reigns and all we can extract from this brilliant piece is a mélange of weapons and personifications of wealth which include strongboxes, moneybags, chests, and barrels full of coins.  “The enormous growth of mercantile trade and commerce in Antwerp as well as in other cities in Europe during the sixteenth century gave rise to many discussions on such issues as the tension between the desire for profit and self-interest, on the one hand, and the concern for the general welfare, on the other.  Bruegel may well have been inspired by arguments in this debate, which was especially important in Antwerp, where trade and commerce were at the very core of the city’s prosperity” (Orenstein 254).

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1)    Klein, H. A. (1963). Graphic Worlds of Peter Bruegel the Elder. Dover Publications, Inc.: New York. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 31 on gps. 80-1.

2)    Orenstein, N. M. (2001). Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings & Prints. Yale University Press: New Haven. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 115 on pgs. 253-4.

3)    Sellink, M. (2007). Bruegel: The Complete Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Ludion: Bruges. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 173 on pg. 265.

4)    Van Bastelaer, R. (1992). The Prints of Peter Bruegel the Elder: Catalogue Raisonné, New Edition. Alan Wofsy Fine Arts: San Francisco. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 146 on pgs. 197-9.

About the Framing:
Conservation framed with archival materials and museum quality, this work is float mounted in a fine hand carved gold leaf frame with closed corners.  The tones in the frame accentuate the contrast in this work.  The simple sculptural details of floral elements in each corner accentuate the intricate line work in this piece.  Completed with white, linen-wrapped mats and a matching gold inner fillet, this work is set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover.