Bruegel’s proverbs: Flemish? Liège? Dutch? Or Belgian?

At the end of my article Leodium, the pin in the hayfield, I had already referred to Estelle Florani’s publication on the website www.chokier.com, specifically the article 1559 – Pierre Brueghel – La Huque bleue. Thioise expressions in Chokier. [1]

Under the title ‘1559 – Pierre Bruegel – La Huque bleue – Thioise expressions in Chokier’, she wrote about Bruegel’s painting, better known as ‘Flemish Proverbs’:

“Let us state straight away that it will never be possible to identify the village of Chokier with certainty in this work. However, Bruegel’s numerous depictions of Chokier Fort and the correspondence between the architectural elements in this work and those of other artists from the same period reveal intriguing coincidences (des coincidences troublants).”

Bruegel’s main building is clearly comparable to the depictions of the central building of the village of Chokier by Bruegel’s principal patron, Hieronymus Cock, in 1558, and by his contemporary from Liège, Thomas Puteanus[2], in 1565 in the Evangelarium of St John the Evangelist’s Church in Liège.

We can see the half-hipped roof, the canopy surmounted by drawings, the half-opening in the façade with a column on the left and a bench on the right (which does not appear in Puteanus’s version), and the annexe on a column with a hipped roof. Bruegel’s depiction features four columns, in keeping with the conciseness of this work. The wide doorway is flanked by an adjoining canopy. In front of it stands a barrel, which can also be found in Bruegel’s building, a reminder of the wine-growing activities of the Abbey of Saint-Jacques in Liège from 1070 onwards.

The harbour is bordered by a wicker fence, which is also depicted by Puteanus, Remacle Leloup and in more recent engravings of Chokier Castle.

Behind this building, Bruegel painted the bastion with a toll gate for levying tolls on the island and the fording at Chokier, with an access bridge symbolising the passage through the water. At the same time, he includes a reference to the lime and alum kilns at Chokier, which were loaded from above.

The ore extraction shaft is symbolised by the proverb: ‘You plug the well after the calf has drowned’.

The island’s gallows also evoke Chokier, as we know that the Lord of Chokier, who held the rights of High and Low Justice, carried out his sentences in the middle of the Meuse. The pillory is unknown to us, but it is quite possible that it existed or was added to illustrate the expression.

It may come as a surprise that the village of Chokier was chosen to illustrate Flemish proverbs. Let us not forget, however, that the land on which the later village of Chokier stood (not to be confused with the fort) had been ceded by Prince-Bishop Balderik van Loon, and that the lords of Chokier had privileged ties with the County of Loon during the time of the noble families of Hozemont and Surlet.” (end of quote)

Chokier (Walloon: Tchôkire) is a village in the Belgian province of Liège, forming part of the municipality of Flémalle. It was an independent municipality until 1969, when it became part of Flémalle Haute. Chokier lies on the left bank of the Meuse, approximately 13 km from Liège.

A while ago, I asked Estelle Florani for her opinion on my hypothesis that Bruegel’s drawing and etching, the Hare Hunt, depicts (the castle of) Chokier. The Hare Hunt is an exceptional work by Bruegel because not only is the (preliminary) drawing by his own hand, but also – and there is no other known example of this by him – the etching.

Estelle Florani is an architect and lived at Chokier Castle until a fire destroyed it in 2017. She publishes articles on the aforementioned website about the history, architecture, iconography and cartography of the Liège region. Just a few days later, she informed me that she had added an addendum to her article on Bruegel’s Flemish proverbs. Below is a free translation of this addendum, which she was kind enough to dedicate to me:

“ADDENDUM dedicated to Luc SAVELKOUL

The Hare Hunt – 1560 – Pieter Bruegel

The Hare Hunt depicts the western side of Chokier Fort as seen from the Meuse.

The attribution of the Flemish Proverbs to the village of Chokier is supported by the certainty that Pieter Bruegel was thoroughly familiar with Chokier Castle and the city of Liège, as demonstrated by two of his works: The Hare Hunt (drawing and etching) and the painting The Suicide of Saul.

The depiction in the drawing corresponds to reality, as if it were an essential step to compose sketches according to the desired scale and proportions before etching them. However, the etching is reversed during printing, and to obtain the original view it represents, it must be reversed. Unfortunately, many elements that would have made it possible to identify the castle in the drawing have been lost in the etching, including, in particular, the extension of the east wing, which is visible in the drawing and which is the historical ‘pepper and salt’ of this study.

The drawing shows the detail of the extension to the east wing that no one before Bruegel had depicted. This detail, which is of such little importance in this drawing, helps to explain the work as a whole. It depicts the moment when the fortress was ‘amputated’ on the Meuse front and enlarged on the other side in order to ‘move’ the castle further inland. This shift was probably necessitated by changes in the exploitation of the limestone massif.

On the left, the new north tower is shown under construction, whilst the old one still stands. On the right is the new square tower; the cellars are no longer there, and then, outside the fortress, a building behind the old south tower, the remains of which disappeared after the Second World War. No one could have depicted or imagined this building at the foot of the limestone massif’s slope had they not seen it whilst it was being transformed. This is absolute proof that Bruegel saw it with his own eyes. (underlining LS) Furthermore, the painter Lukas van Valckenborch confirms its existence in 1580 in his work The Industrial Meuse at Chokier. That this detail, which appeared inconspicuously during the fortress’s transformation, was captured by Bruegel’s eyes is a minor miracle.

The other details of the landscape correspond perfectly, but are scattered across the present-day landscape. The hunting ground is situated some 500 metres away and corresponds perfectly with the spot where the vines of the Coteaux de Dame Palate wine estate are now planted. Also visible is the tower known as Dame Palate, which still stands today, with its small stair tower. Unfortunately, this small tower is missing from the etching. The drawing of the plantation is the stuff of dreams and, by comparing the thickness of the vines with that of the thicker tree, one might think they were already vines, pruned into a goblet shape, although it could also have been an orchard.

The Suicide of Saul – 1562 – Pieter Bruegel

This painting depicts the eastern silhouette of the old fortress of Chokier, which can still be seen in the cellars. It shows the new buildings on the western side constructed for the northward extension, but not the new tower depicted in The Hare Hunt, as this was still too small at that time and could not be seen from below the castle. On the eastern side, the first small building of the northern extension appears. The strangest fact is probably that, during a later restoration carried out by another artist, a correction was made to reflect the reality of a later period. Bruegel accurately depicted reality by drawing the entrance building at the drawbridge, with the small ruined tower—which has now been converted into a staircase—and the outbuildings on a lower level, the elevation of which required an adjustment to the access road. (…) Finally, as in the Hare Hunt, there is the fort on the island in the Meuse.

On the left in the background, Bruegel painted the city of Liège from an angle similar to that of Thomas Puteanus, but closer to the perpendicular to the Boulevard d’Avroy. All the elements of Thomas Puteanus’s foreground are present, slightly spread out at this angle, but not the Pont des Arches, which lies hidden behind the island. (…)

The flames above the city may refer to the ‘Sack of Liège’ (Sac de Liège) in 1468 by Charles the Bold. ‘The Suicide of Saul’ could then depict the death of Jean Surlet, Marshal of the City of Liège, Lord of Chokier, Provost of Tongeren and Maaseyck, in front of his castle. The story goes that Jean Surlet, whose warhorse had been poisoned the day before, could have saved himself, but that he preferred to die in battle.

This landscape, constructed by Bruegel, does not exist in reality but, just as in the Flemish Proverbs, is composed of sketches that have been combined to develop his theme. Here, Bruegel establishes the connection between the city and the fortress through a perspective and a technically impossible staircase, which replaces the limestone slab that has been moved to the opposite bank.

As with the Hare Hunt, there are elements not depicted that are suggested by a superficial line in the sketches. The entrance building to the drawbridge, although perfectly positioned, seems incongruous because Bruegel bricked up the moat with the drawbridge, which is difficult to see and understand from this angle.

It is therefore certain that Bruegel was familiar with both the fortress of Chokier, the city of Liège, and, in all likelihood, its history. “

So much for Estelle Florani. It seems clear that, in the Addendum, she has revised her original assumption that it would never be possible to identify the village of Chokier in the Flemish Proverbs with certainty. Never say never – a difficult expression to paint.

To her analysis of the Hare Hunt, it may be added that the building which is the focal point of the Flemish Proverbs also features in it.

CONCLUSION:

Florani’s insights and contributions lead to the conclusion that Bruegel, with a probability bordering on certainty, depicted locations in Liège and the surrounding area—either realistically and/or within compositions—in at least five of his works, namely:

- the Flemish Proverbs, 1559

- the Hare Hunt, 1560 (drawing and etching)

-The Suicide of Saul, 1562

-The Haymaking, 1565, see: Leodium, the pin in the hayfield

-The Preaching of John the Baptist, 1566, see: The ‘window’ in Bruegel’s ‘The Preaching of John the Baptist’.

The hypothesis that Pieter Bruegel the Elder resided in Liège during the hidden first half of his life, and perhaps also around 1560, can be confirmed.

Finally: the Suicide of Saul is a candidate for inclusion in the list of Leo Spaepen’s simultaneous paintings. [3]

Notes:

^1] _{ICONOGRAPHY – VILLAGE OF CHOKIER – 1559 – Flemish Proverbs – 1559 Pieter Brueghel – Oil on panel 117.2 x 163.8 cm – Gemäldegalerie – Berlin^.}

^[2] _{Thomas Puteanus (Latinisation of Van den Put(te), b. Sint-Truiden, 11 December 1532; d. Liège, 23 April 1608. Miniaturist, illustrator. Not much is known about Thomas van den Putte. In Sint-Truiden, he was elected as a town councillor and archivist in 1570. In 1585, he served as a representative of the ‘maréchaux’ (blacksmiths’ guild), which also included artists, within the ‘drapiers’ (wool weavers’ guild). In addition, he worked as a miniaturist and illuminator, mainly in the service of Liège. Best known are his miniatures in the Gospel Book of St John the Evangelist’s Church, which was illuminated around 1565 by the Liège artist Robert Quercentius. This Gospel Book is generally regarded as the masterpiece of Liège book illumination in the sixteenth century. The illustrations are signed with Thomas’s monogram: TMP. For further information on Puteanus, see: Vandevelde, S., 1990, LIMBURGS BIOGRAFISCH REPERTORIUM, issue III}

^[3]  _{Spaepen, L., De Bruegel Code, Borgerhoff&Lamberigts, MER.Books, 2025}