The Folly of Man: Or The World turn'd upside down

This engaving was extremely popular and represented the reverse of everyday activities in a series of nineteen compartments with captions; animals behave like men, fish fly, women behave like men and the earth is shown above the sky. In one scene the ox turns butcher and slays the man, in another the husband becomes the nursemaid and the wife becomes the hunter.

The idea of reversed roles was a constant source for satirical prints. 'The Folly of Man' may have derived from the Dutch artist Brueghel's 'Netherlandish Proverbs' 1559 (also called The Topsy-Turvy World) which depicts a land populated by literal renditions of Flemish proverbs. It was not merely a collection of proverbs but a study of human stupidity and many of the scenes are very recognisable today. Brueghel's son painted up to twenty copies of the work indicating its popularity and it is possible that artist who produced 'The Folly of Man' was influenced by one of these versions.