Description
The Rich Man Playing Violin on a Jaw Bone shows a cloaked man beside a barrel or chest, drawing a bow across a jawbone as though it were a violin. The round composition encloses him within a small landscape of buildings, giving the improbable musical act a recognizable setting. In this print after Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a familiar gesture becomes comic through the mismatch between performer and instrument.
Engraved by Jan Wierix around 1568, the work gives a proverbial subject a concise human form. The printed lines keep the action available for close inspection, allowing the joke to remain a scene rather than only a phrase. Its interest lies in how little is needed to make behavior questionable: one person and an unsuitable instrument can suggest a wider failing of judgment. The image invites amusement while leaving room to recognize the absurdity of confidence misplaced in the wrong means.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Pieter Bruegel collection.
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