Brueghel combines fantastical exaggeration with minute detail, reflecting the moralising spirit and satirical edge typical of sixteenth-century Netherlandish art. It teems with an almost absurd profusion of fish within fish, serving as a warning about the harsh reality that in life, the powerful consume the weak without mercy. It reflects the timeless proverb that the great prey upon the small, showing a world driven by greed, cunning and the constant struggle for survival. Brueghel’s style, with its crowded, almost chaotic scene filled with lively figures and curious incidents, mirrors his fondness for filling his compositions with proverbs and human folly.