Pride (Superbia) from The Seven Deadly Sins

Description

A female figure with a mirror occupies the center of Pride, surrounded by strange creatures and a densely imagined village. Familiar buildings mingle with grotesque invention, making the setting as unsettling as it is intricate. In this engraving after Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a recognizable act of self-regard becomes part of a broader scene of human and monstrous folly.

Made by Pieter van der Heyden in 1558, the print uses engraved lines to translate Bruegel’s design into a scene that rewards close looking. Its moral title offers a direction, but the surrounding invention makes the subject more absorbing than a simple instruction. The work’s appeal lies in the tension between recognizing a familiar human weakness and discovering its visual expression. Pride becomes both an idea to question and a scene whose details can hold the viewer’s attention.

Read our guide to giclée prints, browse more Pieter Bruegel prints, or explore Avarice (Avaritia) from The Seven Deadly Sins.