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[wikipe] Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia Search [ ] [Search] [Go] * Create account * Log in [ ] Personal tools * Create account * Log in Pages for logged out editors learn more * Contributions * Talk [ ] Contents move to sidebar hide * (Top) * 1Description * 2The games * 3References * 4External links Toggle the table of contents [ ] Toggle the table of contents Children's Games (Bruegel) [ ] 18 languages * l`rby@ * Brezhoneg * Dansk * Deutsch * Ellenika * Espanol * Francais * Hayeren * Italiano * `bryt * mSr~ * Nederlands * Ri Ben Yu * Norsk bokmal * Polski * Russkii * Turkce * Ukrayins'ka Edit links * Article * Talk [ ] English * Read * Edit * View history [ ] Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions * Read * Edit * View history General * What links here * Related changes * Upload file * Special pages * Permanent link * Page information * Cite this page * Wikidata item Print/export * Download as PDF * Printable version In other projects * Wikimedia Commons From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder Children's Games Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Children's Games - Google Art Project.jpg Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Children's Games Artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder Year 1560^[1] Type Oil on panel Dimensions 118 cm x 161 cm (46 in x 63 in) Location Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Children's Games is an oil-on-panel by Flemish Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painted in 1560. It is currently held and exhibited at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The entire composition is full of children playing a wide variety of games. Over 90 different games that were played by children at the time have been identified.^[2] Description[edit] This painting, mentioned for the first time by Karel van Mander in 1604, was acquired in 1594 by Archduke Ernest of Austria. It was suggested that it was the first in a projected series of paintings representing the Ages of Man, in which Children's Games would have stood for Youth. If that was Bruegel's intention, it is unlikely that the series progressed beyond this painting, for there are no contemporary or subsequent mentions of related pictures.^[3] The children, who range in age from toddlers to adolescents, roll hoops, walk on stilts, spin hoops, ride hobby-horses, stage mock tournaments, play leap-frog and blind man's bluff, perform handstands, inflate pigs' bladders and play with dolls and other toys. They have also taken over the large building that dominates the square: it may be a town hall or some other important civic building, in this way emphasizing the moral that the adults who direct civic affairs are as children in the sight of God. This crowded scene is to some extent relieved by the landscape in the top left-hand corner; but even here children are bathing in the river and playing on its banks. The artist's intention for this work is more serious than simply to compile an illustrated encyclopaedia of children's games, though some eighty particular games have been identified. Bruegel shows the children absorbed in their games with the seriousness displayed by adults in their apparently more important pursuits. His moral is that in the mind of God, children's games possess as much significance as the activities of their parents. This idea was a familiar one in contemporary literature: in an anonymous Flemish poem published in Antwerp in 1530 by Jan van Doesborch, mankind is compared to children who are entirely absorbed in their foolish games and concerns.^[4] The games[edit] Starting from bottom left, the games may be identified as follows:^ [5]^[6] +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Number | Image | Game | Notes | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 01 | Playing with | Playing with | | | | dolls | dolls | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Playing 'Holy | Playing 'Holy | Small liturgical objects | | 02 | Mass' | Mass' | used at Mass and | | | | | Liturgies | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Water gun and | Water gun and | | | 03 | owl on | owl on | Shooting water at a bird | | | support | support | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 04 | Wearing masks | Wearing masks | Wearing disguises for | | | | | fun | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Swinging from | Swinging from | | | 05 | a hanging | a hanging | The classic hanging seat | | | seat | seat | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 06 | Climbing a | Climbing a | | | | fence | fence | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 07 | Handstand | Handstand | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 08 | Play the | Play the | Bending the body to | | | "knot" | "knot" | contorted positions | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Flipping and rolling | | 09 | Somersault | Somersault | forwards, backwards, or | | | | | sideways | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 10 | Fence riding | Fence riding | Pretending the fence is | | | | | a horse | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | It is exactly at the | | | | | diagonal centre of the | | | | | panel. Perhaps an irony | | | | | of the holy sacrament, | | | | | or a reference to the | | 11 | Mock wedding | Mock wedding | main event that allows | | | | | conception of children. | | | | | Mock child weddings have | | | | | been common folk | | | | | tradition many places in | | | | | Europe, and were often | | | | | celebrated at Midsummer. | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Passing | Passing | | | | through | through | | | 12 | kicking legs | kicking legs | | | | - running the | - running the | | | | gauntlet | gauntlet | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | One player is | | | | | blindfolded and then | | | | | disoriented by being | | 13 | Blind Man's | Blind Man's | spun around. The other | | | Bluff | Bluff | players call out to the | | | | | "blind man" who attempts | | | | | to tag them before they | | | | | dodge away. | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 14 | Playing with | Playing with | | | | birds | birds | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Making hats | Making hats | The child in the blue | | 14b | with twigs | with twigs | tunic is wearing a hat | | | | | woven from twigs. | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Still a popular pastime, | | | | | Bruegel shows children | | | Blowing | Blowing | blowing bubbles with | | 15 | bubbles | bubbles | clay pipes and verifies | | | | | soap bubbles being used | | | | | as entertainment for at | | | | | least 400 years | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 16 | Shell bobbin | Shell bobbin | A flying spinneret made | | | | | of nut shells | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 17 | Teetotum | Teetotum | Forerunner of the | | | | | roulette and dice games | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 17b | Toy animal | Toy animal | A stone dog of sorts | | | with leash | with leash | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Game of very ancient | | | | | origin, played with five | | | | | small objects, | | | | | originally the | | | | | "knucklebones" (actually | | 18 | Knucklebones | Knucklebones | the astragalus: a bone | | | | | in the ankle, or hock) | | | | | of a sheep, which are | | | | | thrown up and caught in | | | | | various ways; more | | | | | commonly known as | | | | | playing jacks. | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Re-enacting the | | | | | procession of adults | | | | | carrying home a baby | | | | | just baptized. The blue | | 19 | Mock | Mock | hood symbolises | | | baptismal | baptismal | deception ("hooding the | | | | | husband" meant to | | | | | cuckold him, as shown in | | | | | Bruegel's Netherlandish | | | | | Proverbs). | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Possibly the morra, a | | | | | hand game - similar to | | | | | rock, paper, scissors - | | 20 | A hand game | A hand game | that dates back | | | | | thousands of years to | | | | | ancient Roman and Greek | | | | | times | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | A papier-mache or other | | | | | type of container that | | | | | is decorated, filled | | 21 | Pinata | Pinata | with toys and or candy | | | | | and then broken, usually | | | | | as part of a ceremony or | | | | | celebration | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Walking poles equipped | | | Walk on | Walk on | with steps for the feet | | 22 | stilts | stilts | to stand on, they can be | | | | | short (like here) or | | | | | long (see number 62) | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 23 | Play leapfrog | Play leapfrog | Vaulting over each | | | | | other's stooped backs | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 24 | Mock | Mock | Competitions of various | | | tournaments | tournaments | kind | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 25 | The "Pope's | The "Pope's | Holding the child by | | | seat" | seat" | gripping hands | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Riding a wooden hobby | | 26 | Hobby-horse | Hobby-horse | horse made of a straight | | | | | stick with a small | | | | | horse's head | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Stirring | Stirring | | | 27 | excrement | excrement | | | | with a stick | with a stick | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Playing the | Playing the | Playing simple music | | 28 | flute and the | flute and the | with basic instruments, | | | drum | drum | always popular with kids | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Children and adults | | | | | around the world have | | 29 | The simple | The simple | played with hoops, | | | roll hoop | roll hoop | twirling, rolling and | | | | | throwing them throughout | | | | | history | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Shouting into | Shouting into | The many uses of a | | 30 | a barrel from | a barrel from | barrel | | | a hole | a hole | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 31 | The hoop with | The hoop with | A variation of rolling | | | bells | bells | the hoop | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 32 | Riding the | Riding the | With barrel vaulting, | | | barrel | barrel | another popular play | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Throw them through a | | 33 | Hat throwing | Hat throwing | child's open legs, or | | | | | see who throws farthest | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | A man-shaped loaf of | | | Raisinbread | Raisinbread | bread, most likely some | | 34 | man | man | sort of Dutch duivekater | | | | | , offered during wakes | | | | | or at Christmas | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | The penalty | The penalty | Bouncing someone's | | 35 | of | of | buttocks on planks | | | "bumbouncing" | "bumbouncing" | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Number | Image | Game | Notes | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Ball made | Ball made | | | | with an | with an | Inflating a bladder to | | 36 | inflated | inflated | create a balloon or ball | | | animal | animal | | | | bladder | bladder | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | A group of children had | | | | | to create a "pony" and | | 37 | Buck buck | Buck buck^[7] | another had to leap on | | | | | their backs until the | | | | | weight made it crumble | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | On the wooden plank | | | | | below the funnel Bruegel | | | | | inscribed "BRUEGEL 1560" | | 38 | To play shop | To play shop | Red pigment was made | | | | | from scraping bricks and | | | | | was most famous from | | | | | Antwerp. | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Played with small discs | | | | | called "winks", a pot, | | | | | and a collection of | | | | | squidgers. The children | | | | | use a "squidger" (a | | | Playing | Playing | disk) to propel a wink | | 39 | Tiddlywinks | Tiddlywinks | into flight by pressing | | | | | down on a wink, thereby | | | | | flicking it into the | | | | | air: the objective of | | | | | the game is to score | | | | | points by sending one's | | | | | own winks into the pot | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Playing | Playing | An old outdoor game | | 39b | Mumblety-peg | Mumblety-peg | played by children using | | | | | pocketknives | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 40 | Building (a | Building (a | | | | well) | well) | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 41 | Pulling hair | Pulling hair | May be a game or a fight | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Catching | Catching | | | 42 | insects with | insects with | | | | a net | a net | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 43 | Playing the | Playing the | | | | scourge | scourge | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 44 | Playing | Playing | Ancient throwing game | | | marbles | marbles | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | The players each take a | | | Pitch and | Pitch and | coin and take turns | | 45 | toss | toss | tossing them towards the | | | | | wall: the coin the | | | | | closest to the wall wins | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Twirling a | Twirling a | | | 45b | hat on a | hat on a | | | | stick | stick | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Making a | Making a | Popular among children | | 46 | procession | procession | and adults, in diverse | | | | | applications | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 47 | Playing the | Playing the | | | | porter | porter | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 48 | Who's got the | Who's got the | Hiding the ball and | | | ball? | ball? | guessing who has it | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 49 | Riding | Riding | Riding on another's | | | piggyback | piggyback | shoulders | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 50 | Singing | Singing | | | | door-to-door | door-to-door | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 51 | Bonfire | Bonfire | Lighting a fire | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Riding a | Riding a | A variation of | | 52 | broom | broom | hobby-horse, but with | | | | | many players | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 53 | Pushing a | Pushing a | | | | wall | wall | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Or "hide and go seek", a | | | | | game in which a number | | 54 | Hide-and-seek | Hide-and-seek | of players conceal | | | | | themselves in the | | | | | environment, to be found | | | | | by one or more seekers | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | One player, chosen as | | | | | the "head" of the tail | | | | | or whip, runs around in | | | | | random directions with | | | The "devil's | The "devil's | subsequent players | | 55 | tail" or | tail" or " | holding on to the hand | | | "crack the | crack the | of the previous player. | | | whip" | whip" | The entire "tail" of the | | | | | whip moves in those | | | | | directions but with much | | | | | more force toward the | | | | | end of the tail. | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 56 | Grappling | Grappling | A basic form of | | | | | wrestling | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 57 | The "devil | The "devil | Role play as a street | | | chained" | chained" | game | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Run, jump on | Run, jump on | | | 58 | a cellar's | a cellar's | | | | door | door | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Players attempt to score | | | | | points by rolling a ball | | 59 | Bowling | Bowling | along a flat surface, | | | | | either into pins or to | | | | | get close to a target | | | | | ball | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Running and handing off | | 60 | The token | The token | the baton to the next | | | | | runner | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Perhaps a variation of | | 61 | Throwing | Throwing | bowling or bocce, | | | walnuts | walnuts | hitting an assembled | | | | | cluster of nuts | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 62 | High stilts | High stilts | Walking on long poles | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 63 | Pole vaulting | Pole vaulting | Exercising on a | | | | | horizontally fixed bar | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Balancing a | Balancing a | A clownish game of | | 64 | stick on a | stick on a | balance | | | finger | finger | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 65 | Put up a show | Put up a show | Enacting a play | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Using toys that can be | | 66 | Spinning tops | Spinning tops | spun on an axis, | | | | | balancing on a point | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 67 | The trolleys | The trolleys | Baskets moving on a line | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Flying a | Flying a | Letting a piece of cloth | | 68 | ribbon on a | ribbon on a | fly in the wind from a | | | stick | stick | stick | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Whom shall I | Whom shall I | A girl selects her | | 69 | choose? | choose? | "baby" from a group of | | | | | friends under a blanket | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 70 | Urinating | Urinating | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | In teams, throwing the | | 71 | Bocce | Bocce | bocce balls closest to | | | | | the jack ball | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 72 | Pirouetting | Pirouetting | Swirling the girls' | | | skirts | skirts | skirts round and round | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 73 | Climbing a | Climbing a | | | | tree | tree | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | A healthy recreational | | 74 | Swimming | Swimming | exercise, enjoying a | | | | | full-body workout | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | | | Jumping or falling into | | 75 | Diving | Diving | water is always fun for | | | | | children | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | | Floating with | Floating with | A sheep's bladder was | | 76 | an inflated | an inflated | also used, to float on | | | pig's bladder | pig's bladder | top of it or to play | | | | | water games | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 77 | "Dethroning | "Dethroning | A game also known as | | | the King" | the King" | "king of the hill" | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 78 | Playing with | Playing with | | | | sand | sand | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 79 | Coil | Coil | A fight of knights | | | tournament | tournament | | |--------+---------------+---------------+--------------------------| | 80 | Rattles | Rattles | Noisy musical game | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ References[edit] 1. ^ signed at bottom right "BRVEGEL 1560" 2. ^ Hindman, Sandra (September 1981). "Pieter Bruegel's Children's Games, Folly and Chance". Art Bulletin. 63 (3): 447-475 - via JStor. 3. ^ G. Arpino & P. Bianconi, L'opera completa di Bruegel, Rizzoli (1967). (in Italian) 4. ^ Cf. Pietro Allegretti, Brueghel, Skira, Milano 2003. ISBN 0-00-001088-X (in Italian) 5. ^ ""Children's Games" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder". Joy of Museums Virtual Tours. Retrieved 2022-12-02. 6. ^ Calu, Irina Diana (2022-11-14). "Pieter Bruegel's Children's Games". DailyArt Magazine. Retrieved 2022-12-02. 7. ^ Rice, Irvin. "Traditional games". missourifolkoresociety.truman.edu. Retrieved 6 January 2017. External links[edit] # Wikimedia Commons has media related to Children's Games by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. * Children's Games at the KHM (German) * Bosch Bruegel Society * 99 works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder * Creative Bruegel laid the foundation of the Netherlands School ( Russian) * v * t * e Pieter Bruegel the Elder * List of paintings * Parable of the Sower (1557) * Naval Battle in the Gulf of Naples (1558-1562) * The Fight Between Carnival and Lent (1559) * Netherlandish Proverbs (1559) * Children's Games (1560) * Landscape with the Fall of Icarus * The Triumph of Death (c. 1562) * The Fall of the Rebel Angels (1562) * The Suicide of Saul (1562) * Two Monkeys (1562) * Dull Gret (1563) * The Tower of Babel (1563) * Landscape with the Flight into Egypt (1563) * Adoration of the Magi in a Winter Landscape (1563 or 1567) * Adoration of the Kings (1564) * The Procession to Calvary (1564) * Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (1565) * The Gloomy Day (1565) Paintings * The Harvesters (1565) * The Hay Harvest (1565) * The Return of the Herd (1565) * The Wine of Saint Martin's Day (c. Wierix, Johannes (attributed to) - 1565-1568) Portrait of Pieter Brueghel (I) - * The Hunters in the 1572 - RP-P-1907-593 cropped.jpg Snow (1565) * The Bird Trap (1565) * Massacre of the Innocents (c. 1565-1567) * The Census at Bethlehem (1566) * The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist (1566) * The Wedding Dance (1566) * Conversion of Paul (1567) * The Land of Cockaigne (1567) * The Peasant Wedding (1567) * The Peasant Dance (c. 1567) * The Beggars (1568) * The Peasant and the Nest Robber (1568) * The Blind Leading the Blind (1568) * The Magpie on the Gallows (1568) * The Misanthrope (1568) * The Storm at Sea (c. 1569) * The Painter and The Drawings Buyer (1565) * Pieter Brueghel the Younger (son) * Jan Brueghel the Elder (son) * Jan Brueghel the Younger (grandson) Related * Breugel, Netherlands * Son en Breugel * Bruegel (crater) * 9664 Brueghel * Bruegel (institution) Authority control Edit this at Wikidata National * Germany Other * RKD ID * Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title= Children%27s_Games_(Bruegel)&oldid=1138644961" Categories: * 1560 paintings * Paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder * Paintings in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum * Children's games * Paintings of children Hidden categories: * Articles with Italian-language sources (it) * Articles with short description * Short description matches Wikidata * Commons category link is on Wikidata * Articles with GND identifiers * Articles with RKDID identifiers * This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 20:14 (UTC). * Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0 ; additional terms may apply. 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