The Haywain
From the collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
The Hay Wagon. Allegory on the sinfulness of man: a warning to do good and avoid evil in the form of countless proverbs. The figures in the depicted proverbs all hold a bundle of hay in their hand; all proverbs have inscriptions with commentary in Dutch. In the middle foreground Lady World as an elegant lady with a mirror with peacock feathers in one hand, a bundle of hay in the other. Opposite her a lute player with an hourglass, from which the sand is running. To the left in the middle ground a man in a kneeling position before a statue of Mars, with on his shield the names of Luther, Calvin and Menno (Simons); here a warning against the worship of strange gods. Main theme: it is all hay = everything is vanity/transient. At the top the devil with a hay wagon, here the proverb: Come all for hay, with great heaps / I shall give you enough, you need not buy any. With a one-line inscription in Dutch.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s own description
