The Wine of Saint Martin's Day

The Wine of Saint Martin's Day, painted around 1566-67, was discovered in the Prado in 2010 and is one of Bruegel's largest known works. The painting depicts the Flemish tradition of tapping the first wine barrel on November 11th (St. Martin's Day), showing a chaotic crowd of peasants scrambling for free wine around an enormous barrel. The scene captures the collective frenzy of the celebration with Bruegel's characteristic combination of humor and moral commentary.

The monumental composition fills the foreground with a teeming mass of peasant figures in various states of inebriation and eager anticipation. The painting's large scale allows Bruegel to render individual figures with greater detail than his typically smaller panels.