The Blind Leading the Blind, circa1568
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Six blind men walk out of a village in single file. They are all holding each other's shoulders and clutching sticks to avoid getting lost. Yet the first man in the line, who looks just as lackluster as the rest, falls into a ditch, making the second man fall too. And the third man is starting to lose his balance. Are the others further down the line aware of the drama that lies ahead?
This painting depicts the different stages of a fall through the body language of several different people. It illustrates a parable told by Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew (15:14), "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch," and Luke (6:39), "And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?"
