BRUEGEL, Pieter the Elder
(b. ca. 1525, Brogel, d. 1569, Brussel)

The Peasant and the Birdnester (detail)

1568
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

This painting was probably inspired by a proverb distinguishing between active and passive people: "He who knows where the nest is, knows it; he who takes it, has it." The detail shows the nest robber, the active person; boldly and without a moment's hesitation, he has climbed up the tree.