Pieter Bruegel the Elder (ca 1525-1569), The Fight between Carnival and Lent, 1559, detail 6.
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

(Source: Wikimedia.org)

In the centre of the painting, an intriguing scene seems unrelated to the Carnival-Lent fight. A conclusive explanation for the scene has still not been found. Nonetheless, Bruegel has conferred a special interest to this scene by placing it in the centre and surrounding it by a clearly lighter street colour. In broad daylight, a fool is guiding a couple with a burning torch. All three are shown with their backs to the viewer. Under his clothes the man distinctly carries a hidden sack, while the woman carries an unlit lantern hanging at her belt. It has been suggested that the scene might symbolize dispute and extinction.