Gemäldegalerie Berlin — Berlin, Germany

Every daft thing going on here is meant to be a Dutch saying acted out for real — banging your head against a brick wall, that sort of thing. Counts run to well over a hundred, and no one seems to agree on the exact number, partly because some of the sayings have dropped out of the language since.

Man, woman, glass of wine in a tidy room — this was a whole genre in the Netherlands, and buyers at the time apparently read it straight off as a warning about where the drinking was heading. There's said to be a figure in the stained glass holding a set of reins, which stood for holding yourself back.