c. 1740-1760

Fragment from a Biombo: "Who Has What Satisfies Him, Desires Nothing"

Artist/maker unknown

This fragment is one of four from a Mexican biombo, or folding screen. Mexican artists modeled such screens on Japanese examples, which were introduced into New Spain in the late sixteenth century and became one of the most popular decorative art forms. Each panel of this biombo depicted a moral proverb from the book Theatro moral de la vida humana (Moral Theater of Human Life) by the Dutch artist Otto van Veen (c. 1556-1629), published in Spanish in 1669.

This particular fragment is based on a print from Van Veen's book and illustrates the proverb "Who has what satisfies him, desires nothing." The scene shows a man in the foreground filling a cup with water from a fountain, while in the background another man has fallen into the river while trying to replenish his much larger jug. According to the explanation that accompanies the proverb, the man at the fountain was content to receive only what he needed, whereas the man in the river sought more and was punished for his greed by being swept away by the current.