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Dulle Griet (anglicized as Dull Gret), also known as Mad Meg, is a figure of Flemish folklore who is the subject of a 1563 oil-on-panel by Flemish renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The painting depicts a virago, Dulle Griet, who leads an army of women to pillage Hell,[1] and is currently held and exhibited at the Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp.

Dulle Griet (Dull Gret)
Artist	Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Year	1563
Type	Oil on panel
Dimensions	115 cm × 161 cm (45 in × 63 in)
Location	Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp

History and description

A restoration of the painting in 2018 revealed that it was painted in 1563, shortly after the painter had moved to Brussels.[2] Previously, the signature and the date on the painting had been illegible, and it was assumed that it was painted two years earlier,[3] or, based on its close compositional and stylistic similarity to The Fall of the Rebel Angels and The Triumph of Death, one year earlier. Like those pictures, Dulle Griet owes much to Hieronymus Bosch. It is assumed the painting was destined for a series.[4]

Bruegel's earliest biographer, Karel van Mander, writing in 1604, described the painting as "Dulle Griet, who is looking at the mouth of Hell". It came into the collections of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, then was looted by the Swedish troops in 1648, and reappeared in Stockholm in 1800. Art collector Fritz Mayer van den Bergh discovered it in 1897 at an auction in Cologne, where he bought it for a minimal sum, discovering its actual author a few days later.[5][6]

Her mission refers to the Flemish proverb:

She could plunder in front of hell and return unscathed.

In the view of Max Seidel, Roger H. Marijnissen in their book 'Bruegel. Pt.2', Bruegel is making fun of noisy, aggressive women. At the same time he castigates the sin of covetousness: although already burdened down with possessions, Griet and her grotesque companions are prepared to storm the mouth of Hell itself in their search for more.[7] It might also refer to something that is either stupid, or courageous, or both; implying that one who is dull or naive may have more courage and end up in trouble, though not succumbing but making the best of it. Could symbolize a woman defying hell and returning with treasure, a psychological analogy of working through troubles to become stronger and wiser; to enter into one's personal hell and overcome one's "demons" i.e. fears or trauma. Yet, the opinions may differ and are subjective.

Griet was a disparaging name given to any bad-tempered, shrewish woman. In an incisive historical and critical interpretation of the painting, Margaret Sullivan concludes that in it Bruegel allegorizes the ideological zeitgeist’s “madness and folly.” She notes that “in the sixteenth century ‘dulle’ had two meanings. The first was ‘mad’ and the second (and older) meaning was ‘foolish’ or ‘stupid.’ ‘Griet’ as a female name communicated the idea of a fool. . . The name Margaret and its variants Margot, Magrite, Greta, Griet, etc., seemed to have acquired pejorative connotations throughout Northern Europe, making it an especially appropriate choice for the painting.”[8]

Dulle Griet appears as a character in Caryl Churchill's play Top Girls (1982), where she recounts her invasion of Hell: "I'd had enough, I was mad, I hate the bastards. I come out my front door that morning and shout till my neighbors come out and I said, 'Come on, we're going where the evil come from and pay the bastards out.'" (Churchill, 28).

Details

While her female followers loot a house, Griet advances towards the mouth of Hell through a landscape populated by Boschian monsters (see detailed images). They represent the sins that are punished there. Griet wears male armour — a breastplate, a mailed glove and a metal cap; her military costume is parodied by the monster in a helmet beside her, who pulls up a drawbridge. A knife hangs from her side, while in her right hand she carries a sword, which may refer to the saying: "He could go to Hell with a sword in his hand." A book of proverbs published in Antwerp in 1568 contains a saying which is very close in spirit to Bruegel's painting:

One woman makes a din, two women a lot of trouble, three an annual market, four a quarrel, five an army, and against six the Devil himself has no weapon.[9]

Painting materials

The pigment analysis was conducted by the scientists at the Ghent University.[10] Bruegel used the cheap smalt for the robe of the central figure of Mad Meg instead of the more expensive ultramarine together with vermilion and copper resinate.[11]

Notes

External links

• Dulle Griet at the Museum Mayer van den Bergh
• Bosch Bruegel Society
• 99 works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
• Creative Bruegel laid the foundation of the Netherlands School (Russian)
• "Bruegel" . Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
• Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Mad Meg (Dulle Griet), ColourLex
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Breughel, Pieter" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 503.

На других языках

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[de] Die Tolle Grete

Das Die Tolle Grete oder De Dulle Griet genannte Ölgemälde von Pieter Bruegel dem Älteren zeigt eine hünenhafte Frau, die in Harnisch und Helm durch ein infernales Chaos schreitet. Es entstand um 1562 und befindet sich heute im Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerpen.

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- [en] Dull Gret

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[es] Dulle Griet

Dulle Griet, también conocida como La loca Meg, que podría traducirse literalmente al español como «La loca Rita», es una pintura de Pieter Brueghel el Viejo, actualmente en el Museo Mayer van den Bergh de Amberes, Bélgica. Se trata de un panel con unas dimensiones de 115 centímetros de alto y 161 de ancho. Fue ejecutada en el año 1563.

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[fr] Margot la folle

Margot la folle[1] ou Dulle Griet, est une huile sur panneau de chêne (115 × 161 cm) de Pieter Brueghel l'Ancien, inspirée de Margot la Folle (en néerlandais : Dulle Griet), personnage du folklore gantois. Elle date de 1563.

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[it] Margherita la pazza

Margherita la pazza (Dulle Griet) è un dipinto a olio su tavola (115x161 cm) di Pieter Bruegel il Vecchio, datato 1561 e conservato nel Museo Mayer van den Bergh di Anversa. Contiene una scritta poco leggibile, interpretabile come "MDLXI", a cui era probabilmente anteposta la firma dell'artista.

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[ru] Безумная Грета (картина)

«Безумная Грета» (нидерл. Dulle Griet) — картина голландского живописца Питера Брейгеля Старшего, которая была создана в период с 1562 по 1564 год[1]. Заглавным героем картины является персонаж фламандского фольклора, в порыве безумия штурмующий ад, чтобы насытить свою жадность[2]. В настоящее время картина находится в музее Майера ван ден Берга (Антверпен)[3].

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