At first I thought the children were playing jacks. Two girls are bent over a little patch of ground in Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Children’s Games. I got closer to the framed print, which turned out to be a mistake if the plan was to get on with my day. Somebody was rolling a hoop. Somebody else seemed to have taken possession of a barrel. The longer I stood there, the more I wanted to know the rules.
What are the children playing in Bruegel’s painting?
The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna dates the original oak panel to 1560. Its guide counts 83 games. I’d start with three clues you can actually find in the picture. Follow the round hoops across the foreground. Look for the children astride a barrel. Then find the two girls crouching over a set of knucklebones. The museum’s painting and zoomable image
The bones were ankle joints from hoofed animals. You could use them like dice or play a game of tossing and catching. Art historian Amy Orrock notes that the same painting has a different bone game up the street, where the pieces are arranged like skittles. The girls got my attention first. The second game made me realize I’d been staring right through the equipment. Orrock’s research and illustrated game details
What to look for on a Children’s Games print
The picture on the front tells you what Bruegel painted. Turn the frame over and look at the margins for the information about your copy. A museum poster, an older offset reproduction, and a reproduction on canvas can all show the same children. If the frame hides the edge, leave that part of the identification open.
In What’s It Worth?, I’d add the whole picture and a close-up of the detail that caught my eye. In Dive Deeper I’d ask two questions. What are those girls playing? And what would you need to see to identify who published this print? One question sends you into the square. The other brings you back to the thing hanging on your wall.
For another frame that turns out to contain a street you can explore, see the town that parks like a Norman Rockwell painting.