At the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille, an idea behind the celebration

In the north, partying is serious business. And it's been going on for a while, as the Flemish Festivals and Celebrations exhibition at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille demonstrates. Born from a Franco-Belgian collaboration, the very interesting exhibition dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries, through around a hundred works (paintings, musical instruments, weapons, papier-mâché giants, etc.), on loan from Brussels, Vienna, Madrid, Amsterdam, and Paris. How can we not associate Flemish festivals with the colorful painting The King Drinks by Jacques Jordaens (1638-1640), on loan from the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and presented at the end of the exhibition?

It's a banquet, the center of which is occupied by a laughing, red-faced old man, wearing a crown, with a glass of wine and a cake for a meal. Around him, guests packed like sardines and particularly drunk, with twisted mouths, are making a toast, bellowing, and playing the bagpipes. At the top of the painting, a madman is waving his hobby horse and bells; at the bottom, a dog is leaping; to the right, a woman is wiping a baby's bottom; and in a corner, we notice a self-portrait of the painter—Jacques Jordaens himself—spitting out his guts by knocking over a tray. Now that's a scene of revelry where people seem to be having fun! But before reaching this acme of the riotousness—which is also a clear parody of power—