2-975-974 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Battle between Carnival and Lent, c.1600-c.1620. A little man playing the bagpipes who personifies the carnival is being carried on a table out of the kitchen on the left. His pitcher of drink has fallen over, to the glee of one of the people carrying him. In the kitchen itself, the activities around the fireplace allude to Shrove Tuesday, and the cleaning of fish to Lent. The round table on the right is being carried on a woman’s head, and on it are just two fish in reference to the meagre Lenten diet. To the right of the woman is a colossal bagpipe containing a lute-player and several other figures. The foreground is largely filled with two dancing couples (monks and nuns), and their dance is the dance of fools, signifying stupidity.