Focus on The Peasant Wedding and discuss the The groom.
There has been much conjecture as to the identity of the groom in this painting. The critics Gilbert Highet and Gustav Glück have argued that the groom is the man in the centre of the painting, wearing a dark coat and seen in profile, or the ill-bred son of a wealthy couple, seen against the far wall to the right of the bride, eating with a spoon. It has also been suggested that according to contemporary custom, the groom is not seated, but may be the man pouring out beer.According to the same custom, he may also be the man handing the plates of food to his guests from the near end of the table, wearing a red cap.
In a Freudian vein, Rudy Rucker speculates:... the groom is the man in the red hat, passing food towards the bride. The motion of a husband, to penetrate the wife. Near him are no less than three phallic symbols pointing towards the wife: the man’s arm, the knife on the table, and the salt-cellar [salt shaker] on the table. At the end of the man’s arm is an ellipse of an angle-seen dish that is oriented and located in the right location to represent the bride’s vagina.
Some authors have even suggested that the groom is not even included in the painting. Van der Elst speculated that this could be the depiction of an old Flemish proverb: It is a poor man who is not able to be at his own wedding. Some connect it with the biblical Wedding of Cana.
Lindsay and Bernard Huppé speculated that the painting was a Christian allegory of corruption, depicting the corrupted Church destined to be the bride of Christ, but the groom has not appeared to claim his corrupt bride.
Freudian Wedding of Cana Gustav Glück bride salt-cellar Flemish Gilbert Highet Rudy Rucker