The Drunken Peasant Pushed into a Pigsty

Satire has been a significant part of printmaking from the art form’s earliest times, and these two recent additions to the Chazen’s collection attest to the genre’s longevity. In 1568, Heironimus Wierix, a prolific printmaker, created a rondel of a Bruegel design, The Drunken Peasant Forced into the Pigsty. Bruegel designed many prints; all, except for a single example, were executed by other artists. Weirix was often hired to reproduce the designs of others. Around the same time this print was made, he had done a series of rondels of Bruegel designs with proverbs written around the edges. This print does not have text around the edge of the design; however, it does refer to a Netherlandish proverb that warns: “Those who, like drunken pigs, waste their time and good in the house of Venus will finally have to be pushed into a pigsty with the other swine.” In 1998, the small painting this print was based upon was reattributed to Bruegel after decades of obscurity in a private collection. The painting is on anonymous loan to the National Gallery, London. James Ensor’s satire, created centuries later, is more personal. Ensor designed and etched the plate, and also hand-painted this particular impression with watercolors. Moreover, the elegant figures, surrounded by pestilent stink from the hoi pollio, are portraits of Ensor’s friends and family: Ernest Rousseau Sr., Ensor’s sister Mitch, the painter Willy Finch, and Mariette Rousseau (daughter of Ernest). Here the sophisticates must endure the stench around them, even contributing to it in the case of Willy Finch and his malodorous breath. The print is derived from a drawing by Ensor that is based loosely upon a photograph of the group, which includes Ensor as well. At the time of this print’s making the distinction between bad smells and disease were better understood, but for centuries stench was suspected to transmit illness. While not a direct representation of the prodigal son story, this print relies on the audience’s familiarity with the tale to evoke sympathy for the drunken peasant, who gazes directly at the viewer.