(Brussels 1564–1638 Antwerp)
The Fat Peasant and the Merchant,
oil on panel, tondo, diameter 17 cm, framed

Provenance:
art market, Italy;
where acquired by the present owner

Klaus Ertz writes about the present painting: ‘I have come to know only four further tondo variants – two of which show identical signatures – of this excellently conserved roundel, which is extremely rare for Pieter Brueghel the Younger. The composition of the theme in question, which was treated relatively rarely, is, in my opinion, not based on a picture by the artist’s father, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, as is most often the case, but a drawing by the son himself. While in all versions of this composition the two protagonists are shown seated on the bench in the foreground, the background always differs, although the rustic atmosphere seems to be a constant dictated by the fat peasant: it is the familiar hustle and bustle in village roads of people going about their daily business.

Of the versions of this subject known to date, one picture was signed before 1616 (BRVEGHEL), whereas the second was signed after 1616 (BREVGHEL), which can be told by the sequence of letters used. In my eyes, the painting to be assessed here must also be dated into the period after 1616, as the vast majority of the proverbs was painted after 1616.’