What do the ‘Twelve Flemish Proverbs’ from 1568 tell us about the collective unconscious? A psychological analysis of Jan Wierix's engravings – inspired by Freud, Jung and Lacan

How Jan Wierix created a visual language with twelve Flemish proverbs in 1568 that continues to shape our imagination today.

Why are these old, seemingly absurd images worth looking at? Because they are more than just comical miniature scenes. They show how deeply language, culture and psychology are intertwined. This article guides you through the significance of the ‘Twelve Flemish Proverbs’ from 1568, connects them to the works of Pieter Brueghel the Elder and offers psychological interpretations.

What it's about:

• What are ‘The Twelve Flemish Proverbs’?

• Who was Jan Wierix?

• How did Pieter Brueghel the Elder influence the genre?

• Why were the ‘Flemish Proverbs’ so popular?

• What do the images by Wierix really show us?

• What is the psychoanalytical interpretation of these images?

• How do archetypes appear in the engravings?

• What role does humour play in these works?

• Which idioms are still familiar to us today?

• What do the effects of these images reveal about our brain?

What are ‘The Twelve Flemish Proverbs’?

The ‘Twelve Flemish Proverbs’ refer to a cycle of etchings with allegorical illustrations that depict sayings from the Dutch-Flemish region as absurd, often grotesque miniature scenes. They were created in 1568 by Jan Wierix and take up a tradition that had previously been shaped by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.

These engravings (engraving) combine symbolic thinking, cultural criticism and visual wit – like an ancient meme universe on paper. They offer high resolution in both printing technology and meaning.

Who was Jan Wierix?

Jan Wierix (1553–1619), a pupil of the Flemish School, was a product of the cultural heyday in Antwerp and Brussels. The ‘Twelve Flemish Proverbs’ from 1568 mark an early high point in his work.

In the pictorial tradition of Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525–1569 Brussels), Wierix condensed the moral satire into concentrated roundels. Jan Wierix as an art print phenomenon can only be understood in the context of this iconographic turn from text to image.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder was the first great painter to translate everyday proverbs into comprehensive compositions. His work ‘The Flemish Proverbs’ is considered a model for later prints.

Why were the ‘Flemish Proverbs’ so popular?

In the 16th century, everyday life was marked by insecurity: religious tensions, social upheaval and poverty. Flemish proverbs offered orientation – but also humour to help people endure the absurd.

The engravings were consumed like visual puzzles. People discussed them at the table, in workshops or at the market. They were not simple pictures – they offered intellectual pleasure.

What do the images in Wierix really show us?

The scenes are full of contrasts: miniature people crawling out of a giant body. Figures tugging at clothes or scattering coins. Everything seems both familiar and strange at the same time.

‘The Twelve Flemish Proverbs’ are like moral tableaux, in which each figure embodies an attitude, a folly or a vice. The visual language replaces the text.

What is the psychoanalytical interpretation of these images?

In one engraving, a character appears producing little people from her backside while simultaneously sprinkling money from her hand. This surreal image appeals to the collective unconscious.

Freud would speak here of the connection between excrement and gold. This is a classic Freudian thought. The connection between excrement and gold refers to the early childhood phase in which the child exercises power and feels pleasure by withholding or giving up excrement. Freud saw this as the origin of later character traits, such as stinginess or pedantry, but also of artistic sublimation.

The transformation of something ‘base’ into something ‘valuable’ – in this case, excrement into gold – points to the psychodynamic processes of sublimation that can be seen in art, religion and philosophy.

While Freud recognises a sublimated excrement phantasy in the exchange value of the gold, Lacan focuses on the coin itself as an object small-a – the object that marks and simultaneously conceals the lack.

The act of ‘giving birth to equals’ – that is, the precise reproduction of identical coins – becomes a cipher for symbolic reproduction: inscription into an order that structures desire without satisfying it.

The coin circulates, seems tangible, satisfying – and yet it remains empty, similar to Jan Wierix's works as art prints. Its ‘value’ lies not in itself, but in the gaze of the other. It is precisely here that the economic sign tips over into psychoanalysis: the coin as an object of small-a – that which is missing so that desire can continue to circulate.

How do archetypes appear in the engravings?

From a Jungian perspective, the ‘devouring mother’ appears in this scene – an archetype that devours the individual instead of liberating it. The small, identical figures have not yet begun the process of individuation.

Another engraving shows a cloaked figure walking away while a shield-bearer tugs at her robe. Here, the figure seems like an unattainable anima – the female projection of the male. The shield-bearer has no centre – only defence.

What role does humour play in these works?

Humour as a weapon. In authoritarian times, criticism was expressed through exaggeration. Those who exaggerate are punished more severely. A man fishing without water? This is reminiscent of the moral teachings in the proverbs of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Ridiculous, but also sad.

Humour allows ambivalence: you can laugh – but also be shocked. The Flemish engravings walk this fine line.

Which idioms do we still know today?

Many sayings have been preserved – even if the images associated with them have been lost:

• ‘throwing pearls to swine’

• ‘charging headlong into a wall’

• ‘tightening one's belt’

Such proverbs are cultural long-term memory, captured in the works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Jan Wierix. They store recommendations for action and social judgements.

What do the effects of these images tell us about our brains?

Modern brain research shows that images have a faster effect than texts. The engravings trigger emotional responses even before they are understood.

Metaphors help to grasp complex ideas. Visual metaphors – as in the works of · jan · johan wierix – combine cognition with emotion. That is why they make such a lasting impression.

Conclusion: What remains of the ‘Twelve Flemish Proverbs’ from 1568?

• Language was never just spoken – but also seen.

• Jan Wierix combined morals with metaphor.

• The engravings from 1568 are still effective today because they show archetypes.

• Pieter Brueghel the Elder fundamentally shaped this genre.

• Humour, criticism and psychology merge in the image.

• Proverbs are collective repositories of cultural truth.

• Art becomes an X-ray of society, especially in the proverbs of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)

What exactly are the ‘Twelve Flemish Proverbs’?

They are a series of round engravings made by Jan Wierix around 1568. Each scene illustrates one or more Dutch sayings in a symbolically exaggerated, often grotesque form. The motifs are strongly reminiscent of the moral and satirical works of Pieter Brueghel the Elder.

Who was Jan Wierix?

Jan Wierix (1553–1619) was a Flemish engraver from Antwerp. He worked in the same workshop as his brothers Johan and Hieronymus. He was known for his attention to detail and for combining art with visual thinking at an early stage.

Why are these engravings psychologically relevant?

The images address the collective unconscious: archetypes (Jung), fixation of drives (Freud) and cultural mirror images become visible. The equation of excrement and gold in one scene, for example, points to early economic symbolisation and anal-fixated value concepts.

What does Pieter Brueghel the Elder have to do with these images?

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525–1569, Brussels) laid the iconographic foundation with his painting ‘The Proverbs of the Netherlands’. Jan Wierix adapted the subjects and implemented them in circular, printed miniatures.

What makes the representation still relevant today?

Many of the proverbs depicted, such as ‘throwing pearls to swine’ or ‘banging your head against a wall’, are still in use today. The engravings show how visual codes are passed down over centuries – and how they continue to structure our thinking to this day.

What can I personally learn from these engravings?

They invite reflection: on our own patterns of thought and language, on cultural conditioning and on unconscious images that we carry forward, and please hesitate to question the meanings of the Flemish proverbs. Those who engage with these images are also engaging in a kind of visual self-knowledge.

Can the engravings still be viewed or purchased today?

Yes, many digital collections (e.g. Public Domain Review, Metropolitan Museum of Art) offer high-resolution scans. Some of them are also offered as reproductions.