Why do geese walk barefoot?

Because they do – that’s why geese walk barefoot.

A Dutch proverb in case you wondered and it’s meaning? Everything has a reason. It is just one of the 72 proverbs that feature pictorially in the one small 16th century painting of an imaginary Dutch village by Peter Bruegal the Younger (1564-1638). Called ‘Proverbs’, the painting is comparable to a Where’s Wally illustration depicting dozen’s of characters doing amusing things. But you won’t find Wally on this canvas. Instead the challenge is to decipher each metaphorical proverb from the little villagers’ actions. So the above proverb is represented by some geese walking barefoot which might not be so interesting. But just imagine how the following proverbs have been represented in the painting.
“To shit on the world” (to not care at all)
“It’s healthy to piss on the fire” (it’s good to calm hot tempers)
“They shit through the same hole” (they agree completely)
The character’s literally act out all these activities and over 60 more in the one doormat sized picture which I thought it was hilarious for 16th century art. Apparently this kind of thing was popular at the time.
‘Proverbs’ was one of hundreds of masterpieces from the collection at the Frans Hal Museum, in Haarlem 30 minutes by sneltrain (fast train) north of The Hague. This was my outing for today. Haarlem is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands and it attracted great artists during the Dutch Golden Age which refers to the period in the 17th century when Dutch trade, science and art were the at their peak. I think the Netherlands was THE place to be in the 17th century.
The Frans Hals Museum is named after the Haarlem portrait painter of the Golden Age and features many of his works including humongous sized group portraits of the civic guards. I enjoy visiting galleries where it is possible to see these huge canvases. It takes your breath away when you walk into a room and there are five or more paintings each bigger than our kitchen. Hals was commissioned to complete the five civic guard’s paintings (which include a total of 68 individuals) and they originally hung in the shooting ranges where the guards met.
The Museum building was originally an Old Men’s Alm’s House in the 17th century. It was built in a U-shape with a garden in the middle called a hofje. Hofjes and their Alms Houses, a type of charitable housing system for the aged and poor have existed since the Middle Ages and are still around in Haarlem. Many of the buildings are used for different purposes but the courtyard gardens are still there. I visited a hofje entering through a gate to sit on a bench beside sculptured hedges and lawns and statues, the gardens were quite beautiful.
After the Frans Hals Museum, I referred to my map and decided to find some more hofjes. This was a bad idea because I became lost almost straight away and had to ask for directions. I caught eye contact with a Polo Ralph Lauren clad chap leaving his front door. I was about to seek his guidance but I waited while he turned and waved goodbye to his girlfriend who was standing in the window wearing a very tight short dress. Realising I had misinterpreted the scene I hot-footed it out of there. The red fluorescent light tube in the window told me it wasn’t his girlfriend and it wasn’t his house. This was a house of ill repute and as I turned I realized all the houses had red lights in their large windows. I didn’t see any other working girls though, must have been busy in the office or on a lunch break. Actually, it wasn’t scary and I was quite surprised to be in the red light area as it was close to a church and seemed like an affluent respectable little laneway.
The Great Church of St Bavo’s in the main square of Haarlem is the largest church in the Netherlands. It dominates the skyline and thankfully can be seen anywhere in Haarlem so I found my way back to the middle of things. Inside the Church I am a tiny ant. This is the largest church I have ever been in and it is beautiful. It contains the Christian Muller organ which is gold gilded, has over 5000 pipes and is more than 30 metres tall. This organ was played by Mozart when he was 10 years old. I notice each massive stone slab in the floor has a faintly engraved number and some have names. I find out that each slab is a gravestone, some from the 15th century and there are 1500 of them in the floor of this church. Frans Hals is actually buried beneath one of the stones. The church’s gothic architecture dates from the 13th century however it has been added to over the centuries so is like a timeline of Haarlem. It was originally Catholic but became Protestant during the Reformation. The best view of the church is when you hyperextend your neck and see the painted ceiling with a clock in it.
The shopping in Haarlem looks fantastic. I walk down a street with a banner that proclaims “De leukste winkelstraat van Nederland 2009/2010!” (best shopping in the Netherlands). I will return to Haarlem for a shopping day for sure.