The Changing Appearance of The Wedding Dance

Bruegel’s Wedding Dance looks remarkably di erent today from the way it appeared when it arrived at the DIA in 1930. We have almost no written records of what has happened to the painting since it entered the collection in 1930—and we have none of what happened to it before its acquisition by the DIA. As a result, the photographs and color print that depict e Wedding Dance have become an important source for our understanding of the painting’s condition and changes over time. e most consequential transformation occurred during William Suhr’s comprehensive conservation treatment of the painting in 1941. Although Suhr wrote a report in 1942 describing the condition of the painting after his treatment, it is the photographic documentation, supported by archival sources, that helps us contextualize and fully understand this important treatment. H I S T O R I C A L I M A G E S O F T H E W E D D I N G D A N C E