Pieter Bruegel the Elder depicted people in his paintings in such specific detail that in his painting The Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind, ophthalmologists have distinguished four unique eye diseases.

These trudging, suffering blind men are a classic depiction of a biblical parable through the eyes of Bruegel. From Bruegel’s collection of works, over half convey biblical scenes, and the most obvious theme they all seem to share is suffering. Some of his most famous biblical paintings include The Suicide of Saul  and The Tower of Babel. The 16th century saw a fascination with proverbs among the Humanistic circle in which Bruegel moved. Unlike Netherlandish Proverbs, which depicts a slew of folksy proverbs being enacted all at once, this painting focuses on just one proverb, forcing the viewer to look at people who would typically have been avoided in real life.

This painting has inspired a variety of poetry and literature including poems by both William Carlos Williams and Charles Baudelaire. Perhaps this is because the painting stands out from other Renaissance painters at that time who emphasized harmony and positivity in their biblical paintings. The suffering and pain going on in this painting, on the other hand, are much more reminiscent of a dark Dante-esque representation of human suffering. Bruegel seemed to be a guy who possessed a lot of feelings.

In the biblical parable of the blind leading the blind, from the books of Matthew and Luke, the story goes like this: The scribes and Pharisees tell Jesus’ disciples that they need to wash their hands prior to taking meals. However, Jesus has already told them it’s not necessary. When they come to Jesus then, questioning these conflicting teachings, he says if they listen to the Pharisees they will become the blind being led by the blind, meaning the incompentent taking advice from those who are similarly incompetent. Of course, it’s worth nothing here that this parable did come prior to germ theory and efficient anti-bacterial soaps, which offer a very strong argument in favor of washing your hands before consumption of meals.

This piece has inspired a lot of literature, perhaps the most interesting of which includes an entire novel by Gert Hofmann entitled “The Parable of the Blind.” In the novel, the subjects of this painting come to life and must make their way from the barn in the painting to the artist’s home where they will be painted. Almost the entirety of the novel is in dialogue and the men quite literally “run into” countless obstacles along the way.