Peter Brueghel (the younger) captures the scene in early 1617 as Baron Roger Duchâtelet orders the inhabitants of Sint Truiden to sing and dance following their heavy defeat in a game of Kolven at the hands of local rivals Tongeren.
Duchâtelet, depicted in black tunic and burgermeister hat on the left of the painting, looks on stern-faced as those around him dance about and feign enjoyment.
Art historians have recently identified the future pretender and upstart Thomas a’Driesen, seen to the right of a table in the background. He is believed to be consulting a Ouija board and plotting Sint-Truiden’s formation for their next Kolven game versus Hasselt.
The women in black seated at the table was once thought to have been the infamous Katrien de Meire but further research has established that she was in England at the time of this defeat but not long before she ultimately fled these shores hidden in laundry basket on a barque sailing from Greenwich.
PS. Sorry about this. So depressed that I wanted to find some solace in a flight of fancy rather than enter any serious debate!
PPS Kolven - game played in post-medieval Flanders - could get violent - Roger Johnson might have done well in it.
Comments
Perfectly sane individuals reduced to this.
And that looks like a 4-2-3-1 formation to me.
Not sure the bloke at right front managed to tuck his away properly though.
You sure??
There is also a black and white banner at the back
My wife would not call me sane for having stayed loyal to Charlton over this period.
However, this is the first season in those 55 years where I have no real appetite for going to The Valley.