Paradise is when roasted pigeons fly straight into your mouth and you are overcome by a sweet drowsiness – isn’t it?
‘The Land of Cockaigne’ describes a paradisical state of this sort. Anyone who manages to get to this place – which involves passing through a mass of sticky pulp – will find an abundance of food and drink: the pig already has a knife inserted into its appetising, crispy skin, the goose signals that it is ready to be eaten by willingly placing its neck on the plate, and the egg runs about on nimble little legs in search of someone to eat it. Everything is moving; only the humans lie passively on the ground. The relationships here are turned upside down: the world is topsy-turvy, and nothing is what it seems to be – which calls for caution.

The protagonists of this painting represent society, and Bruegel chose a memorable composition to highlight this. Like the spokes of a wheel, the representatives of three levels of society are arranged around a tree, lying on the ground with stuffed bellies: a knight wearing armour and holding a lance, a peasant with a flail, and a figure that can be identified as a scholar by his fur-lined coat and the inkwell that is attached to his belt. The knight and peasant are already asleep, and the scholar with his hands interlocked behind his head is also idle: the written document that peeks out from under his shoulder and the book lying at his side are ignored. Two approaches to life, vita activa and vita contemplativa, are united in this blissful idleness. This vividly illustrates the close connection between human laziness and abandoning oneself to guilty pleasures.

The subject matter of ‘The Land of Cockaigne’ is based on a literary topos that can be traced back to antiquity. While Sebastian Brant broadly identified it as the goal of all fools in his ‘Ship of Fools’, published in 1494, Hans Sachs’s detailed description of the Land of Cockaigne in a poem from around 1530, which includes a warning about idleness, corresponds with the motifs in Bruegel’s picture. The treats depicted and the deep satisfaction derived from the gratification of all sensory needs represent laziness and gluttony, which were part of the canon of cardinal sins already established in the Middle Ages.
In this way, the Munich panel is a warning against human deviance – a bitter pill encapsulated in a thick layer of sugar. The age of Humanism and nascent Protestantism foregrounded the personal responsibility of individuals. Not only destiny but people themselves were responsible for their own happiness, and good deeds were viewed as a preparation for the hereafter.

‘The Land of Cockaigne’ was created in 1567, making it a late work of the artist, who died in 1569. In addition to landscapes, Bruegel often painted scenes of rural life, which earned him the nickname ‘peasant Bruegel’. Despite their humour, the works always have a fundamental element of scepticism, as well as uncertainty about whether pleasure and inebriation alone are worth aspiring to and constitute the meaning of life.

Paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder were always highly popular among collectors. One of the painter’s famous admirers was Emperor Rudolf II (1552–1612). His collection at the castle in Prague contained several works by Bruegel, including ‘The Land of Cockaigne’. During the Thirty Years’ War, Swedish troops occupied Prague and plundered numerous art treasures. Among these works was ‘The Land of Cockaigne’, which was taken to Skokloster Castle in Sweden.

The subsequent whereabouts of the painting are unknown; it did not resurface until the beginning of the twentieth century. At this time, it was part of the collection of Richard von Kaufmann (1849–1908) in Berlin. Kaufmann, a professor of national economy and privy councillor, was a typical representative of his era: an academic, he served the Prussian government as a consultant and, on account of his broad interests, was a patron of the Berlin museums. After his death, his extensive and first-rate collection was auctioned off by Paul Cassirer and Hugo Helbing. ‘The Land of Cockaigne’ came under the hammer on 4 December 1917 in Berlin. The winning bidder was Otto Lanz (1865–1935), a surgeon and academy professor who was originally from Switzerland and had lived in Amsterdam since 1902. Lanz purchased the painting for the Alte Pinakothek for 310,000 Reichsmark.

However, the acquisition was only possible with the help of donations. While Otto Lanz, Paul Cassirer, Hugo Helbing, and other anonymous patrons made contributions, the most important sponsor was Marie von Kaufmann (1860–1937), the wife of the deceased collector. She donated part of the proceeds to the Alte Pinakothek, as is documented in her correspondence with Friedrich Dörnhöffer, the museum’s director at that time. The collection records include a letter from Marie von Kaufmann, in which she explains that her commitment was due to her fondness for the city of Munich. 

Several people who made the purchase of ‘The Land of Cockaigne’ possible for the Alte Pinakothek were persecuted, marginalised, and murdered during the Nazi era because they were Jewish. In 1933 Marie von Kaufmann’s son, the lawyer Heinrich von Kaufmann-Asser, was removed from his position as ambassador to Argentina due to his Jewish ancestry and forced to retire. Anna Willi, Otto Lanz’s widow, was forced to sell his collection at less than fair value to the German occupiers of the Netherlands. Hugo Helbing (1863–1938), one of the most important art dealers and auctioneers of his time, was systematically coerced to leave the art market following the Nazi’s rise to power and lost his license. His company, Galerie Helbing in Munich, was closed in 1938. That same year, during the pogrom of 9 November, Helbing’s son was taken to Dachau, while Helbing himself was severely assaulted in his apartment. He died three weeks later.

With this presentation, the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen would like to pay homage to its Jewish patrons who were instrumental in developing the Bavarian art collections and were persecuted, marginalised, and murdered by the state between 1933 and 1945 because they were Jewish.