
"Fest des Bohenenkonigs" (Feast of the bean king - see detail), c. 1640-1645 by Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678) - Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
Note: Jordaens painted several versions of this theme. This work
probably illustrates the old moralizing Latin proverb "none
resembles the fool more than the drunkard".
A custom associated with "Twelfth Night" consisted of baking a
cake containing a single bean. The guest who found the bean was
"king" and could choose a woman for himself and others to be his
"ministers" in a night of celebration.
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