Description
Everyman searches amid a crowded store of goods in this engraving by Pieter van der Heyden after Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Men with lanterns look among barrels, chests, sacks, books and vessels, while a kneeling figure adds to the foreground activity. Dated about 1558 and published by Hieronymus Cock, this version includes a letterpress text panel below the image. The title makes its observation potentially applicable to anyone, including the viewer.
The scene’s abundance does not produce a sense of completion. Instead, each container or bundle seems to prompt another search, giving the composition a restless momentum. Fine engraved lines distinguish the possessions while tying them into a dense common space. The printed words offer a second way to approach the moral subject. Searching for something amid so much material variety becomes both a literal activity and a suggestive human predicament.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Pieter Bruegel collection.





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