The drunkard pushed into the pigsty (t’Varcken moet in t’schot)

The present subject depicts the Dutch proverb 't'Varcken moet in t'schot', or 'the pig must go into the sty'. First depicted in 1557 by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, this roundel is only known through an engraving by Jan Weenix, and from several painting copies including versions by Pieter Brueghel the Younger and his workshop. A rectangular engraving by C.J. Visscher (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. no. RP-P-OB-2394) includes, with the title, an inscription: Die haer goet als droncken Swynen Brengen door in Venus Kott Moeten nae elendich quynen Eyndelyck int Varckensschott' ('Those who, like drunken pigs, waste their time and good in the house of Venus, will finally have to be pushed, after miserable decay, into the pigsty'). The proverb has varyingly referred to the indignity of drunken and gluttonous behavior.