The Peasant Lawyer

This painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger was so popular that no fewer than twenty versions were produced in the artist’s workshop. In fact, more than 100 variants exist, though certainly not all were produced by Brueghel himself. Our Peasant Lawyer was authenticated in 2002 and was dated to around 1620 using dendrochronology, or tree ring dating applied to the panel on which it is painted.

The painting appears under different titles, including The Tax Collector or The Payment of the Tithes, but the setting is that of a village attorney’s office, with clients lined up to enlist his services. Humbly the villagers approach the lawyer’s desk, offering up what they can in terms of payment: grapes, eggs, poultry; all used in trade for assistance in their legal matters. Perhaps it is a tax note from the local government, perhaps orders from a magistrate. Whatever the matter, there is no shortage of folks in need. Some approach with confidence while others, like the man at the door, approach with hesitation, perhaps in fear of what their case involves.

Files are organized in sacks arranged throughout the space as the attorney studies the document at hand. An hourglass is visible on the lawyer’s desk as an allusion of fleeting time, or possibly as commentary on charging by the minute.