The Wedding Dance

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Netherlandish, 1525-1569
On View

in

European: Medieval and Renaissance, Level 2, West Wing

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About the Artwork

The Wedding Dance is a splendid example of Bruegel's fascination with the peasant life of his native land. Public and private holidays and festivals provided him with typical situations and characters for his paintings. Here the wedding guests are very simply modeled, the positions of their arms and legs somewhat exaggerated to make the dancers look more awkward and more rustic. Although a modern audience might see this panel primarily as a genre painting, Bruegel's contemporaries would have noted its moralizing overtones: frenzied dance and lustful behavior could lead to sin and damnation.

The Wedding Dance

1566

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

1525-1569

Netherlandish

Flemish

Oil on wood panel

Unframed: 47 × 62 inches (119.4 × 157.5 cm) Framed: 57 1/4 × 72 × 3 1/2 inches (145.4 × 182.9 × 8.9 cm)

Paintings

European Painting

City of Detroit Purchase

30.374

Public Domain

Markings

Signed and dated, lower right: • M • D L X V I | B R V E G E L

Printed paper label, upper left, verso: No. 71 | Picture Painted, upper right, verso: 30.374 Handwritten paper label, middle right, verso: 17385

Provenance

Private Collection (England);
until 1930, (Arthur Joseph Sulley [1853 - 1930], London, England);
1930-present, purchased by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

"Rare Work by Bruegel Purchased for Institute." The Detroit News, August 10, 1930, 5.

"Dance of the Peasants." Art News 28, no. 40 (September 13, 1930): p. 5 (ill.).

Heil, Walter and Clyde H. Burroughs. Catalogue of Paintings in the Permanent Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts of the City of Detroit. Detroit, 1930, unpaginated, no. 22 (ill.).

Turkel-Deri, Flora. "Valentiner Buys Fine Breughel." Art News 28, no. 39 (August 16, 1930): pp. 3, 20.

"Dr Valentiner to Give Lecture." Detroit Free Press (February 8, 1931): p. 52.

Valentiner, W. R. "The Wedding Dance by Pieter Bruegel the Elder." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 12, no. 2 (November 1930): 16–19, pp. 16-19 (ill.).

Valentiner, W. R. "Pieter Bruegel, A Painter of the People and Antonio Moro, a Painter of the Court: Part One." Art in America 19, no. 3 (April 1931): 101–121, pp. 117 (ill.), 120.

Valentiner, W. R. "Pieter Bruegel, A Painter of the People and Antonio Moro, a Painter of the Court: Part Two." Art in America 19, no. 4 (June 1931): 149–166, pp. 162. [dated 1666]

Glück, Gustav. Bruegels Gemälde. Vienna, 1932, pp. 53–54, no. 24 (ill.).

Pierrot, George F. and Edgar P. Richardson. Six Great Painters: A Guide to a Half-Hour Tour of the Galleries. Detroit, 1933, pp. 16–19, no. 5.

Rich, Daniel Catton et al. Century of Progress Exhibition. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1933, p. 6, no. 34 (ill.).

Tolnay, Charles de. Pierre Bruegel l'Ancien. Brussels, 1935, vol. 1: pp. 92–93, no. 40; vol. 2: pl. 149 (ill.).

Houtart, Mme. la Baronne Albert and Mme. Feron-Fontaine. Cinq Siecles d’Art, vol. 1. Exh. cat., Brussels, 1935, p. 66, no. 137.

Delacre, Maurice. "Brueghel and Not Brueghel." Burlington Magazine 69, no. 402 (September 1936): 99–111, pp. 99–111 (ill.).

Richardson, E. P. Flemish Painting of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Detroit, 1936, unpaginated, fig. 15 (ill.).

Friedländer, Max J. Die Altniederländische Malerei, vol.14. Leiden, 1937, pp. 30–31, 61, no. 34, pl. XXXII (ill.).

"City Obtains Flemish Art." Detroit Free Press (November 27, 1938): p. 52.

Jedlicka, Gotthard. Pieter Bruegel: Der Maler in seiner Zeit. Erlenbach-Zurich, 1938, p. 539. [as possibly by Pieter Bruegel the Elder]

"Art." Detroit Free Press (March 19, 1939): p. 82 (ill.).

Hill, Edwin C. "The Human Side of the News" Stevens Point Journal (June 19, 1939): p. 4.

McCall, George Henry. Catalogue of European Painting and Sculpture from 1300–1800. Exh. cat., New York World's Fair. New York, 1939, pp. 15, pl. 59, no. 28 (ill.).​

Tietze, Hans, ed. Masterpieces of European Paintings in America. New York, 1939, pp. 147 (ill.), 319, no. 147.

Valentiner, William R. and Alfred M. Frankfurther. Masterpieces of Art: Exhibition at the New York World's Fair 1939, Official Souvenir Guide and Picture Book. Exh. cat., New York World's Fair. New York, 1939, addenda, p. 10, no. 28, pl. 46.

Valentiner, W[illiam] R. "Old Masters." New York Times 88, no. 29,730 (June 18, 1939): rotogravure section (ill.).

Art: Golden Gate International Exposition. Exh. cat., San Francisco, 1940, pp. 11, 33, cat. 129 (ill.).

"Institute's Most Traveled Painting Now Highlight of San Francisco Fair." Detroit Free Press (July 7, 1940): p. 49 (ill.).

Robinson, Francis W. “Detroit Looks Back on Twenty Years.” Art News 38, no. 31 (May 1940): 18–20 (ill.)

Dvořák, Max. Die Gemälde Peter Bruegels des Älteren. Vienna, 1941, p. 54, no. 59, pl. 59 (ill.).

The Old AAA Traveler. "Joey Meets Art." Motor News (February 1943): 8, 22-23, p. 8.

Art of the United Nations. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1944, p. 11 (ill.).

Jewett, Eleanor. "37 Countries in Exhibit of United Nations." Chicago Tribune (November 12, 1944): p. 7-4,

Richardson, E.P., ed. Catalogue of Paintings: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1944, p. 18, no. 22.

Vanbeselaere, Walther. Peter Bruegel: En het Nederlandsche Maniërisme. Tield, 1944, pp. 99, 106, pl. 66 (ill.).

Elst, Joseph van der. The Last Flowering of the Middle Ages. Garden City, 1945, pp. 16 (ill.), 114. [also see 1951 edition, pp. 208, 220–221 (ill.)]

40 Masterpieces: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings from American Museums [Fortieth Anniversary Exhibition]. Exh. cat., City Art Museum. St. Louis, 1947, pp. 18–19, cat. 2 (ill.).

Valentiner, William R. "Pieter Bruegel, The Elder, The Wedding Dance." In Favorite Paintings from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1948, pp. 20–24, no. III, pl. III (ill.).

"Art Students Interested in Book." Albany Democrat-Herald (November 9, 1950): p. 6.

Rasmusen, Henry N. Art Structure: A Textbook of Creative Design. New York, 1950, pp. 74–79 (ill.).

Chase, Alice Elizabeth. Famous Paintings. New York, 1951, p. 92 (ill.).

Detroit: The City Beautiful. Detroit, 1951, p. 19. (ill.).

"Letters: Fun in Flanders." Time 58, no. 25 (December 17, 1951): 4–5, pp. 4–5.

"Public Favorites: Wedding Dance by Pieter Brueghel." Time 58, no. 22 (November 26, 1951): p. 90.

"Time Out." The Press Democrat (December 3, 1951): p. 16.

Denis, Valentin. Tutta la Pittura di Pieter Bruegel. Milan, 1952, pp. 23, 34, 42, pls. 106–109 (ill.).

The World of Pieter Bruegel. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1952, unpaginated, pls. 16, 17, 24 (ill.).

Genaille, Robert. Bruegel L'Ancien. Paris, 1953, pp. 46–47, 94, pl. 102 (ill.).

Glück, Gustav. The Large Bruegel Book. Vienna, 1953, p. 21, pl. 32 (ill.).

Stechow, Wolfgang. Pieter Bruegel. New York, 1954, p. 5, pl. 10 (ill.).

"Been to the Art Museum Lately?" Detroit Free Press (October 11, 1956): p. 30.

Lindsay, Kenneth C. and Bernard Huppé. "Meaning and Method in Brueghel's Painting." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 14, no. 3 (March 1956): 376–386, pp. 376, 385–386.

Stridbeck, Carl Gustaf. Bruegelstudien, Untersuchungen zu den ikonologischen Problemen bei Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. sowie dessen Beziehungen zum niederländischen Romanismus. Stockholm, 1956, pp. 218–220.

Masterpieces of Art in Memory of William R. Valentiner, 1880–1958. Exh. cat., North Carolina Museum of Art. Raleigh, 1959, p. 282, no. L. [listed under supplement, not included in exhibition]

Moore, Lamont. The First Book of Paintings: An introduction to the appreciation of pictures. New York, 1960, pp. 54–55 (ill.).

Wilenski, R. H. Flemish Painters, 1430–1830. New York, 1960, vol. 1: pp. 148, 543; vol. 2: pl. 404 (ill.). [as by Detroit Wedding Dance Painter]

Denis, Valentin. All the Paintings of Pieter Bruegel. New York, 1961, pp. 23–24, 36, pls. 106–109 (ill.).

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Exhibition of Prints and Drawings. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 1961, no. 79 (ill.). [engraving after]

Meijer, E.R. Pieter Bruegel. London, 1962, pl. 13 (ill.).

Puyvelde, Leo van. La Peinture Flamande au Siècle de Bosch et Breughel. Paris, 1962, p. 126. [as by an imitator of Pieter Bruegel the Elder]

"Words To Live By / Proverbs of the World." Tampa Tribune (March 25, 1962): p. 110 (ill.).

DeMille, Agnes de. The Book of the Dance. New York, 1963, p. 46 (ill.).

Robb, David M. Art in the Western World. New York, 1963, pp. 528–529, fig. 453 (ill.).

"125 Figures Cavort on Bruegel Painting." Detroit Free Press (January 8, 1965): p. 4-C (ill.).

"Painting for Pleasure." Palm Beach Post (March 28, 1965): p. 44.

Scheyer, Ernst. "The Wedding Dance by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the Detroit Institute of Arts: Its Relations and Derivations." The Art Quarterly 28, no. 3 (1965): 167–193, pp. 167–193 (ill.).

Grossman, F. Peter Bruegel, The Paintings. London, 1966, pl. 121 (ill.), pp. 200–201. [also see 1973 third edition, pp. 199–200, pls. 125, 134]

Richardson, E.P. Treasures from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1966, pp. 7, 122 (ill.).

Bianconi, Piero. The Complete Paintings of Bruegel. New York, 1967, pp. 12, 104–105, 107, no 41. (ill.).

Myers, Bernard S. Art and Civilization. London, 1967, p. 268, fig. 439 (ill.).

Cuttler, Charles D. Northern Painting: From Pucelle to Bruegel/Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries. New York, 1968, pp. 481–482 (ill.).

Legend. London, 1968, p. 9 (ill.).

Stechow, Wolfgang. Pieter Bruegel the Elder. New York, 1968, pp. 116–119, pls. 33, 34.

Claessens, Bob and Jeanne Rousseau. Our Bruegel. Antwerp, 1969, pp. 138, pl. 37 (ill.); p. 196. [as "The Dance of the Bride"]

Kay, Marguerite. Bruegel. Middlesex, 1969, p. 38, pl. 38 (ill.).

Marijnissen, R.H. Bruegel the Elder. Brussels, 1969, pp. 65, 113, n. 137.

Roberts-Jones, P. et al. Bruegel The Painter and His World. Exh. cat., Royal Museum of Fine Arts. Brussels, 1969, p. 76, cat. 34 (ill.).

Stechow, Wolfgang. Pieter Bruegel the Elder. New York, 1969, pp. 14–15 (ill.).

Myers, Bernard S., ed. "Pieter Brueghel (Bruegel) the Elder." In Encyclopedia of Painting: Painters and Painting of the World from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day. New York, 1970, p. 60 (ill.).

Cummings, Frederick J. and Charles H. Elam, eds. The Detroit Institute of Arts Illustrated Handbook. Detroit, 1971, p. 95, no. 13 (ill.).

Van Gelder, J. G. "Jande Bisschop 1628-1671." Oud Holland 86, no. 4 (1971): 201-259, 261-288, p.215, note 57.

Alpers, Svetlana. "Bruegel's Festive Peasants." Simiolus 6, no. 3/4 (1972–1973): 163–176, pp. 163–167 (ill.), 174–176 (ill.).

Burness, Donald B. "Pieter Bruegel: Painter for Poets." Art Journal 32, no. 2 (Winter 1972–1973): 157–162, pp. 159–161 (ill.).

Grossmann, Fritz. “Some Observations on Georges de La Tour and the Netherlandish Tradition.” The Burlington Magazine 115, no. 846 (September 1973): 567, 578-583, p. 579, note 12.

Harper, James. "Art Institute Fretting over a Prudish Ad." Detroit Free Press (February 18, 1973): pp. A-3, A-5 (ill.).

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. "Pieter Bruegel." Chicago, 1974, pp. 571 (ill.).

Friedländer, Max J. Early Netherlandish Painting, vol. 14. Leiden, 1976, pp. 27, 45, no. 34, pl. 42.

Gibson, Walter S. Bruegel. New York, 1977, pp. 159–168, fig. 115 (ill.); pp. 200, 204.

Morse, John D. Old Master Paintings in North America: Over 3000 Masterpieces by 50 Great Artists. New York, 1979, pp. 31–32.

Poli, Franco de and Edi Baccheschi. Bruegel. Milan, 1979, pp. 78–79 (ill.). [as "Danza nuziale all'aperto"]

Selected Works from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1979, pp. 57, 69, no. XIII, (ill).

Demus, Klaus, Friderike Klauner, and Karl Schütz, eds. Flämische Malerei von Jan van Eyck bis Pieter Bruegel D.Ä. Vienna, 1981, p. 115.

Failing, Patricia. Best-Loved Art from America Museums. New York, 1983, pp. 16–17 (ill.).

"Das Spiel ist Tanz, Lust und Ausgelassenheit." Du: Die Kunstzeitschrift 43, no. 10 (1983): pp. 44–45 (ill.).

Mori, Yoko, ed. Bruegel. Les Grands Maitres de la Peinture 11. Tokyo, 1984, pp. 37, 86, no. 99 (ill.).

Henshaw, Julia P. 100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, pp. 100–101 (ill.).

Horowitz, Frederick A. More Than You See: A Guide to Art. New York, 1985, pp. 42, 45, fig. 5-17 (ill.).

Snyder, James. Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350 to 1575. New York, 1985, pp. 497–499, pl. 562 (ill.).

Marandel, J. Patrice. "A Valentiner Legacy: The Broad Stream of European Painting." Apollo 124, no. 298 (December 1986): 486–497, pp. 489, 491 (ill.).

Collobio Ragghianti, Licia. "Per Bruegel." Critica d'Arte 53, no. 18 (October–December 1988): 50–53, pp. 51–52 (ill.).

Liedtke, Walter. "'Peasants Fighting over Cards' by Pieter Bruegel and Sons." Artibus et Historiae 10, no. 19 (1989): 123–131, pp. 123, 130–131, nn. 4, 11.

Gibson, Walter S. Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Two Studies. Lawrence, 1991, pp. 10–17, fig. 1 (ill.); pp. 35–37 (ill.), p. 43.

Bauman, Guy C. and Walter A. Liedtke. Flemish Paintings in America: A Survey of Early Netherlandish and Flemish Paintings in the Public Collections of North America. Antwerp, 1992, pp. 138–140, no. 40 (ill.).

Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition, On the Threshold of Modernity: The Renaissance and the Reformation. Madison, 1992, pp. 78–79, fig. 18.13 (ill.). [see 2nd edition, p. 85; see 4th edition, pp. 87–88]

Hagen, Rose-Marie and Rainer Hagen. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1525–1569: Peasants, Fools and Demons. Cologne, 1994, pp. 68–69, 75–77 (ill.).

Sullivan, Margaret A. Bruegel's Peasants: Art and Audience in the Northern Renaissance. Cambridge, 1994, pp. 48–49, fig. 38 (ill.); p. 108.

Alpers, Svetlana. The Making of Rubens. New Haven, 1995, pp. 7 (ill.), 10.

Henshaw, Julia, ed. A Visitor's Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 172 (ill.).

Gemäldegalerie Berlin: Gesamtverzeichnis. Berlin, 1996, p. 24. [see "Der Hochzeitstanz im Freien," discusses copy of DIA original]

Westermann, Mariët. The Amusements of Jan Steen: Comic Painting in the Seventeenth Century. Zwolle, 1997, pp. 196–197, pl. 96 (ill.).

Fahy, Everett. "How the Pictures Got Here." In Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1998, pp. 63, 68.

Kavaler, Ethan Matt. Pieter Bruegel: Parables of Order and Enterprise. Cambridge, 1999, p. 2, 322, n. 1.

Vöhringer, Christian. Pieter Bruegel 1525/1530–1569. Cologne, 1999, pp. 90–91, fig. 95 (ill.), p. 113, fig. 120 (ill.).

Gavrilovich, Peter and Bill McGraw. The Detroit Almanac: 300 Years of Life in the Motor City. Detroit, 2000, pp. 422, 426 (ill.).

Majzels, Claudine. "'The Man with Three Feet' in Pieter Bruegel the Elder's 'Peasant Wedding'" Canadian Art Review 27, no. 1/2 (2000): 46–58, pp. 46–47 (ill.), 50.

De Firma Brueghel. Exh. cat., Bonnefantenmuseum. Maastricht, 2001, p. 55.

Orenstein, Nadine M., ed. Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawing and Prints. New York, 2001, pp. 8, 246, 248–250 (ill.).

Jan Miense Molenaer Painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Exh. cat., North Carolina Museum of Art. Raleigh, 2002, p. 172 (ill.). [see cat. 35]

Old Master Paintings. Sales cat., Christie's, London, December 11, 2002, p. 61.

Koerner, Joseph Leo. "Unmasking the World: Bruegel's Ethnography." Common Knowledge 10, no. 2 (Spring 2004): 220–251, pp. 249–251 (ill.).

Gibson, Walter S. "Festive peasants before Bruegel: three case studies and their implications." Simiolus 31, no. 40 (2004–2005): 292–309, p. 293.

Devisscher, Hans and Godelieve Denhaene. Bruegel. Oostkamp, 2006, pp. 74–75, no. A28 (ill.).

Silver, Larry. Peasant Scenes and Landscapes: the Rise of Pictorial Genres in the Antwerp Art Market. Philadelphia, 2006, pp. 117–119 (ill.), 200, 274, n. 41.

Beal, Graham W.J. and Debra N. Mancoff. Treasures of the DIA. Detroit, 2007, pp. 12. 272, 285, no. 217 (ill.).

Sellink, Manfred. Bruegel: The Complete Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Bruges, 2007, pp. 33, 228–229 (ill.).

Stewart, Alison G. Before Bruegel: Sebald Beham and the Origins of Peasant Festival Imagery. Aldershot, 2008, pp. 299–301 (ill.).

Stewart, Alison G. "The William Suhr Papers at the Getty Research Institute." VRA Bulletin 35, no. 3 (2008): 23–43, pp. 32–40 (ill.).

Brueghel: Meraviglie dell'Arte Fiamminga, The Fascinating World of Flemish Art. Exh. cat., Chiostro del Bramante. Rome, 2012, p. 207. [see cat. 4]

Currie, Christina and Dominque Allart. The Brueg[H]el Phenomenon: Paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger with a Special Focus on Technique and Copying Practice. Brussels, 2012, vol. 1: pp. 40, 78, 244–245 (ill.), 263, 278–281 (ill.), 294, 297 (ill.), 315, n. 68; vol. 2: pp. 599, 603, 607–608, 612, n. 42; vol. 3: pp. 893, 895 (ill.).

Beal, Graham W.J. and Debra N. Mancoff. Treasures of the DIA. Detroit, 2015, pp. 6–7, 104, 108, no. 9.3, back cover (ill.).

Coelen, Peter van der and Friso Lammertse. De ontdekking van het dagelijks leven van Bosch tot Bruegel. Exh. cat., Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Rotterdam, 2015, pp. 221–222 (ill.).

Koerner, Joseph Leo. Bosch & Bruegel: From Enemy Painting to Everyday Life. Washington, 2016, pp. 328–329 (ill.).

Abt, Jeffrey. Valuing Detroit’s Art Museum: A History of Fiscal Abandonment and Rescue. Detroit, 2017, pp. xv, 48–49 (ill.).

Kavaler, Ethan Matt. "Pieter Bruegel, Bernard van Orley, realism and class." Simiolus 39, no. 1/2 (2017): 73–88, pp. 78–79 (ill.).

Bruegel. Exh. cat., Kunst Historisches Museum. Vienna, 2018, pp. 263–265 (ill.), 268, 270.

Müller, Jürgen and Thomas Schauerte. Pieter Bruegel: das vollständige Werk. Cologne, 2018, pp. 291–292, no. 25 (ill.).

Martens, Maximiliaan P.J. Dancing Peasants at a St. Sebastian's Kermis. Milan, 2018, pp. 30–31, fig. 10, 46 (ill.).

Vézilier-Dussart, Sandrine. Fêtes et kermesses au temps de Brueghel. Exh. cat., Musée de Flandre. Cassel, 2019, pp. 24–27, 32, 35, 158, 208, fig. 2 (ill.). [not in exhibition]

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Wedding Dance, 1566, oil on wood panel. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 30.374.

The Wedding Dance: Main View of Collection Gallery
The Wedding Dance: 1 of Collection Gallery The Wedding Dance: 2 of Collection Gallery The Wedding Dance: 3 of Collection Gallery
The Wedding Dance
The Wedding Dance