Nicolò Nelli: The World Turned Upside Down (1552–79)

(Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA)

An engraving made by the Italian artist Nicolò Nelli (1530 - 1576 or 1585). The World Turned Upside Down was a popular theme in medieval art. The topos of the world upside down shows a world returned to its initial state of primaeval chaos, in which everything is inside-out and out of bounds: the cart is set before the ox, only fools can be wise, kings no longer rule, animals behave like people, children punishing their parents, women adopting the role of men, ships sailing on land etc. Usually, the theme serves as a warning to social, political and religious changes. engraving from 1552-1579.