In this case, the classic props of a bow and arrow serve as a thinly veiled metaphor for insistent advances of the male figure, who is transformed into a peasant avatar of Eros.

Naturally, the arrow is pointed in the direction of the ultimate destination of his advances.

The woman grasps the tip of the arrow with a gesture that is at once precise, firm and cautious, as if to measure the calibre of the proposition, and leaves no doubt as to the favourable verdict she will reach on her companion' s request.

It is, incidentally, with her left hand that she makes this receptive gesture, the hand which, according to a moral translation of the physiological opposition has quite naturally assumed negative values in the iconography and symbolism of our culture, while with her right arm she is about to clasp the waist of her future partner. The well-entwined couple in the background further spells out the natural evolution of the scene. A piquant detail is provided by the obvious difference in social standing between the two figures. As in the scene in Woman with bagpipe player (another small tondo with sexual connotations) but unlike the scene in Couples with owl and jug, the woman here is clearly characterized by her clothing (a lace ruff and bonnet, and skirt with petticoat) as a member of the urban bourgeoisie or the rural gentry. Her partner is dressed much more simply and in the absence of any sign, improbable as it may be, that this is merely the understatement of a burgher relaxing in the countryside, the viewer can only conclude that he does belong to a lower peasant class.

Brueghel is thus upholding the tradition, initiated by Metsys, of depictions of ill matched couples. However, in the latter's case, and in the work of Reymerswaele, Hemessen and their followers, the accent is laid on a difference in age, while it is here the difference in social position that is emphasized. It is as if Brueghel wanted to underscore the universality of those desires within us, which exist behind the hypocritical facade of social convention. As soon as one removes the bourgeoisie from its natural environment, it does not hesitate to flout these conventions and to behave with the same salacity as the supposedly inferior classes…