BRUEGHEL, Pieter the Younger
(b. 1564, Brussel, d. 1638, Antwerpen)

The Peasants' Brawl

1620s
Oil on panel, 97 x 115 cm
Private collection

This panel depicts a fight between two peasants armed with a pitchfork and a flail, and four others, including two brave women, attempting to intervene. The barrel and flagon together with the scattered playing cards clearly suggest the cause of the quarrel. the design of the composition was in all probability Pieter Bruegel the Elder's invention.

Several versions of this composition have survived.