Making a splash

Icarus and his father, Daedalus, learnt how to fly with wings made of feathers and wax, but Icarus flew too close to the sun and melted the wax. Here, he crashes into the sea as the world goes on around him.

Ploughing ahead

Bruegel's design puts an ordinary farmer in the foreground, leaving the 'epic' myth of Icarus to happen in the background. Life goes on, and the indifference is both funny and tragic.

Sail away

Bruegel foregrounds ordinary life, and relegates these grand ships to the background, in a technique known as 'Mannerist inversion'

Sheeping around

Several sheep can be seen wandering around the coastal edge. Do you think any of them fell into the water like Icarus?

Satirical sewing

Perry draws on the satirical and often graphic humor of historic figures, like William Hogarth and Bruegel.

Seven ages of humans

Perry depicts the 'seven ages of humans' in this work. A child is born at the left of the tapestry and can be seen to advance through life in stages along the work.

Along the red road

The red thread which runs through the work seems to represent some kind of life-blood, feeding into the mouth of a demon-like creature, while a man lies on his deathbed.

Pick a brand

Look closely and you can see there are many words of branded advertizing sewn into the painting. Can you spot 'Ikea'?