"The Wedding Dance," 1566, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Netherlandish; oil on wood panel. Detroit Institute of Arts.

Back of the Wedding Dance showing a cradle attached to the back of the wooden panel. 

Newly acquired, this print by van der Heyden after Bruegel the Elder’s design helps illustrates the popularity of The Wedding Dance after its creation.

Telegraph from Sully to Valentiner, June 30, 1930, The William R. Valentiner Papers, Box 17, Folder 18. Research Library & Archives. Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, MI. Sully congratulating Valentiner on the purchase of the Wedding Dance.  

Detail image of the Wedding Dance depicting the recently discovered signature, outlined in yellow for legibility. 

Composite image of the Wedding Dance depicting half of the painting in normal light and the other half in infrared. 

Composite image of the Wedding Dance showing the painting’s current condition in the upper half and a digital simulation of how the blue may have originally appeared in the bottom half. 

Imaging specialist Aaron Steele documenting the Wedding Dance under ultraviolet illumination. 

Conservator Blair Bailey uses a stereo microscope to examine the top section of The Wedding Dance.

Expert Dr. Tomasz Wazny (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun) assesses the edge of wood panel of The Wedding Dance as part of the dendrochronological analysis.

Dr. Christina Bisulca and Conservator Blair Bailey perform FORS analysis on The Wedding Dance to determine pigments and binders used therein.