Brant, Sebastian (1458-1521)
German satirical poet and humanist. His Ship of Fools (1494), a
bitter satire on follies and vices of his time, tells how a ship
loaded with fools sails to fool's paradise, Narragonia.
See: Bosch The Ship
of Fools is evidently based on the poem. The picture shows
two nuns and a monk passing merry time while sailing to Heaven in a company
of peasants in a strange boat, which has a May tree (which symbolizes spring
folk festivals, a time of moral license for folk and clergy alike) as a
mast; banner with a Muslim crescent instead of Christian cross and many
other humorous details.