The Magpie on the Gallows
Pieter Brueghel the Elder · 1568
Why it's great
A magpie sits on a gallows beside a sunny valley, where peasants dance. Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted it in 1568, and the magpie means gossip, and its message is that gossipy people end up on the gallows.
Where to see it
📍 Hessian State Museum DarmstadtDarmstadt, Germany
Open in Maps ↗Hang it on your wall
Three places to look for a print of this painting, from budget to museum-grade:
These links open search results on each shop's own website; we don't sell anything or earn a commission, and print quality varies by seller. Ask a grown-up before you buy anything.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a Flemish painter born near Breda in about 1525. He lived in Antwerp and Brussels and became famous for crowded paintings of village life, proverbs and landscapes. He died in Brussels in 1569.
