Our contribution examines the question of the transparency of proverbs, particularly metaphorical proverbs. In a first part, we will present what exactly the semantic transparency of metaphorical proverbs consists in; in the second, after recalling our hierarchical approach to proverbs, we will demonstrate how the superordinate status of proverbs helps to preserve the transparency of the literal or compositional meaning. This sets the stage to confirm the treatment of proverbs as a semantic category in itself as the right approach.