Jan Sanders van Hemessen: The Tearful Bride (1540)

 

(Národní galerie v Praze, Prague , Czech Republic.)

A painting by the Flemish artist Jan Sanders van Hemessen (1500 – 1566). Normally a bride would be a joyful woman, depicted with flowers, laughing with people dancing but not in this case. an ugly woman is crying, has a snotty nose, is praying and has cherries on her head. An old man is grabbing her while a young man is holding a pot (perhaps a pisspot). According to a Dutch poem, a cherry is a symbol of a young beautiful woman so in this the combination of the cherries and the ugly woman, old man and the pisspot makes the painting most likely a parody. Painting from 1540.