Bruegel the Elder is Watching You

At least he was if you were a peasant in the Netherlands during the 16th century...

The Fight between Carnival and LentClick to enlarge. I think the guy in the bottom right corner lost.

Dulle Griet (Mad Meg)Poor Meg, no wonder she was mad.

So who was this devilishly detailed painter of peasants?

Pieter Bruegel (about 1525-69), usually known as Pieter Bruegel the Elder to distinguish him from his elder son, was the first in a family of Flemish painters...[and] generally considered the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th
century...

He was probably born in Breda in the Duchy of Brabant, now in The Netherlands [and] accepted as a master in the Antwerp painters' guild in 1551...

His paintings, including his landscapes and scenes of peasant life, stress the absurd and vulgar, yet are full of zest and fine detail. They also expose human weaknesses and follies...He developed an original style that uniformly holds narrative, or story-telling...

Popular in his own day, his works have remained consistently popular. Bruegel died in Brussels between Sept. 5 and 9, 1569.
~WebMuseum

My favorites:

Netherlandish ProverbsSee this link for an explanation of the roughly 100 proverbs depticted in the painting. And be sure to enlarge the image - you don't want to be gazing at storks all day

Landscape with the fall of IcarusCan you see Icarus? Hint: he's already taken a tumble...