Netherlandish Proverbs (also called The Blue Cloak or The Topsy Turvy World)is a 1559 oil on panel painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder whichdepicts a land populated with literal renditions of Flemish proverbs ofthe day. The picture is overflowing with references and most of therepresentations can still be identified; while many of the proverbshave either been forgotten or never made the transition to the Englishlanguage, some are still in use. Proverbs were popular duringBrueghel's time: a number of collections were published including afamous work by Erasmus. Frans Hogenberg had produced an engravingillustrating about 40 proverbs in around 1558 and Brueghel himself hadpainted a collection of Twelve Proverbs on individual panels by 1558and had also produced Big Fish Eat Little Fish in 1556, butNetherlandish Proverbs is thought to be the first large scale paintingon the theme.
Brueghel's paintings have themes of the absurdity, wickedness andfoolishness of mankind, and this painting is no exception. The picturewas originally entitled The Blue Cloak or the Folly of the World whichindicates he was not intending to produce a mere collection of proverbsbut rather a study of human stupidity. Many of the people depicted showthe characteristic blank features which Breughel used to portray fools.His son, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, specialised in making copies ofhis father's work, and painted up to twenty copies of Netherlandish Proverbs.
The painting is published by the Staatliche Museen, Berlin.