16th century, Europe, fooleum, Germany, Netherlands, painting, primary source, woodcut
Having posted individual notes on an enigmatic series of similar paintings, it feels time to pull them together in one place, also allowing the various finger-peeping fools to be viewed alongside each other. We will soon add some related prints and in the meantime,...
16th century, 17th century, bibliography, book chapter, engraving, Europe, fooleum, Germany, Netherlands, painting, print, research, woodcut
Kenneth Craig’s excellent paper takes a sweeping look at examples of fool-peeping-through-fingers paintings and prints, as presented in our Five Guys Named Moe series. Like Cavalli-Björkman’s earlier paper, but more comprehensively, it discusses the...
16th century, bibliography, Europe, fooleum, journal paper, Netherlands, painting, research
Cavalli-Björkman, at the time curator at the National Museum in Stockholm, wrote this paper when the museum acquired the ‘Laughing Jester’, the first in our ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ series of fool-peeping-through-fingers paintings, this one also...
16th century, Europe, fictive fool, fooleum, Netherlands, painting, primary source
The last in this series of paintings (for now, I keep stumbling across new ones) bears a striking resemblance to our mysterious Moe No. 4. This one, too, I found on an auction site. Said to be the work of the Master of 1537, who worked in Mechelen and whose name...
16th century, Europe, fictive fool, fooleum, German, Germany, primary source, woodcut
The latest in our series of fools peeping through their fingers, this one is a woodcut by Heinrich Vogtherr the Younger (1513-68), dated to around 1540 and so slightly later than the preceding paintings on the same theme.  He has the cap and bells complete with ass...
16th century, bibliography, Europe, French, journal paper, Netherlands, research, Spain
Cécile Beuzelin’s paper presents two 16th century double portraits, one by Antonis Mor (1519-75) and one anonymous (but previously attributed to Frans Floris). Both feature the dwarf Estanilao who served Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517-86), a...
16th century, Europe, fooleum, historical figure, Netherlands, painting, portrait, primary source
This is one of two double portraits featuring Estanilao, a dwarf who served in the household of Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517-86), a leading light in Hapsburg Europe. Â In this painting, the dwarf appears behind and beside what seems to be a...
16th century, Europe, fooleum, historical figure, Netherlands, painting, portrait, primary source, Spain
Europe stands out for the range and number of representations of fools and dwarfs in art, particularly during the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. There seems to have been an enduring fascination for both minds and bodies differently cast; dwarfs were...
