Birds of a Feather: Deciphering the Didactic Iconography and Humour of Adriaen van de Venne’s Hoe dienen wij bij een!

Abstract

ABSTRACT Delft-born Adriaen van de Venne (1580–1662) is an artist well-known for his genre scenes, portraits, and book illustrations. He also created images with great moralistic and comic value, such as his painting Hoe dienen wij bij een!, made between c. 1614 and 1662. This painting portrays two brown and black-spotted owls in the guise of humans skating on a frozen lake. As other more conventional birds soar above the distant skeletal trees, these feathered creatures both wear contemporary clothing. The male owl also clenches a rope in his beak with a pair of glasses knotted at the end. This same rope attaches behind him to the female owl’s chest, but instead of spectacles, her end holds several dead mice. Above the two anthropomorphic animals floats a banderole, which translates to ‘How well we go together!’ Although scholars believe van de Venne intended this work as lighthearted with only a vague message of foolishness, I contend that through the artist’s use of iconographic imagery and well-known proverbs and themes, van de Venne produced a humorous painting with a moralizing and didactic message which condemned the vice of adultery and warned the male audience about the dangers of a cunning woman.