CARNIVAL: A PAINTING

"THE FIGHT BETWEEN CARNIVAL AND LENT" is an oil on wood work painted by Pieter Brueghel the Elder in 1559.

We chose it because we think it well portrays the contrast between two sides of life: the enjoyment represented by the inn on the left side and the religious observance represented by the church on the right side.The figure of Carnival is funny: he is a fat man riding a wine barrel and holding a cooking spit with rich holiday food. He is ready to fight with Lent that is skinny, pale and dressed in mourning. The Lent is holding just two herrings.

A lot of other people are represented: beggars, partygoers eating, drinking and dancing, a fishwife and worshippers going out of the church. The scene gives the idea of what Carnival is like: a time of disorder, a time when the world is upside down and a time to say goodbye to meat and all the other carnal pleasures.