Meaning in Peasant Wedding Feast

Painting By 16th-Century Artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Oct 29, 2009

This Renaissance artwork may be a symbol of the Christian miracle of turning water into wine, the Last Supper, or Bruegel's own warning against deadly sin of gluttony.

In “Peasant Wedding Feast,” Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569), the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century, displays a marriage celebration that takes place on the threshing floor of a farm. Though scholars do not agree on the allegorical or religious significance of the work’s subject matter, the painting is important for its realistic and detailed record of the social reality of the 16th century.

Description of the Painting

The wedding guests sit on rough wooden benches at long tables. Two men serve bowls of hot grain. One of the men, most likely a servant, wearing a blue coverlet, white apron, and red cap, is the focal point of the painting. His prominence in the setting and the bright colors of his outfit make him stand out.

Musicians form a small line off to the left. In the left foreground a man is pouring wine into carafes. The painting has been described as a depiction of the biblical story of the marriage at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine in vessels that kept refilling. Some say the painting is Bruegel’s interpretation of the Last Supper, and others say it is a commentary on “gula” or gluttony. Scholars do not agree.

The Meaning of the Grain

In the middle of the picture a woman sits alone with what appears to be a small crown on her head. Clearly this is the bride. High up on the barn wall near her is affixed two sheaths of grain.

Wheat was an important source of food. As bread or cereal, it was an important part of every meal. Families stockpiled what was left of their harvest after paying debts and taxes, but a series of poor harvests could drain the stockpiles. A full barn meant a family needn’t worry about starvation for perhaps the next twelve months. A full barn was a propitious start to a marriage. The sight of the wheat hanging on the barn wall symbolized a full barn and a prosperous marriage.

The Meaning of the Cutlery

The servant with the red jacket stores a wooden spoon in his black hat. The spoon is a sign of poverty. With the abolition of serfdom, the number of itinerant peasants had increased. They spent a lot of time on the road and were willing to take any kind of work they could find, whether harvesting, threshing, or serving at festive occasions like weddings. Thus carrying a spoon in the hat was convenient.

There were no forks at this time. The main eating implement besides a wooden spoon was a knife, and most people carried one. Even the small child munching on a hunk of bread in the forefront has his own knife hanging from his waist.

The Bride

The bride, sitting alone with a serene look on her face, appears almost half asleep. Indeed she is completely motionless. Typically brides did not lift a finger on their wedding day and thus could be certain of at least this one day of rest in what most likely would be a life of hard work!

In his 1604 biography “Book of Painters,” Carel van Mander mentions that Bruegel often visited peasants whenever there was a wedding. The Peasant Wedding Feast (c. 1567), created during the time of Pieter Bruegel’s own marriage, is today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

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