David Vinckboons (1576-1631), Peasant Woman with Drunk Husband

After a fair, a couple of farmers return home. The wife has to support her husband and help him over the tree trunk that lies across the path. The farmer has to support himself when climbing over the obstacle, gets his foot caught, and has to throw up. The scene is funny and skilfully captured. The homecoming of drunken peasants with the help of their wives was a popular theme in Netherlandish painting of the 16th and early 17th centuries, particularly in the circle of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Starting in Flanders, it spread with the Flemish emigrants (such as David Vinckboons' parents) from 1600 onwards in Holland., Oil on wood, 19 × 19,5 cm