The Children of the Planet Mercury
Painter: Jan Brueghel (II)
Year:
Medium: oil on canvas
Description: Glorification of trade and science. Landscape with a ruin near a coastal town. In the center, three children are engaged in reading and writing; in front of them on the ground are piles of books and geometric instruments. To the left, two foxes leer at a group of monkeys engaged in alchemy. In the workroom on the left, a group of scientists bends around a table with a globe; against the wall is a bookcase. A clock hangs from a column near the entrance. In the foreground right, two monkeys sit near a group of objects that refer to fun and entertainment: musical instruments, playing cards, glasses of wine, a triktraks game, masks, swords, a music book and the torso of a statue. In the background dancing comedians and audience members gathered for a play performed outside a village. Through the air rides the triumphal chariot of Mercury pulled by four cocks. In front of it fly all kinds of birds, including a parrot and a cockatoo. From the chariot a monkey scatters musical instruments, dice, masks, cards, etc.
