Why it matters
Peasants dance and revel on a saint's day, yet turn their backs on the church. Together with The Peasant Wedding it is one of the two most outstanding examples of Bruegel's late style, with its monumental Italianate figures.
Did you know?
- It was painted around 1567 and is neither signed nor dated.
- Napoleon took it to Paris in 1808; it was returned in 1815.
- A man next to the bagpipe player wears a peacock feather, a symbol of vanity and pride.
Based on the Wikipedia article The Peasant Dance (CC BY-SA 4.0).
