The blind leading the blind

[2] The idiom can be traced back to the Upanishads, which were written around 800 BCE[3] Abiding in the midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned, fools go aimlessly hither and thither, like blind led by the blind.A similar metaphor exists in the Buddhist Pali Canon, composed in North India, and preserved orally until it was committed to writing during the Fourth Buddhist Council in Sri Lanka in 29 BCE.

Horace was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (27 BCE – 14 CE)[6] The phrase also features in the New Testament.

"[7]The phrase appears in Adagia, an annotated collection of Greek and Latin proverbs, compiled during the Renaissance by Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus.

The first edition, titled Collectanea Adagiorum, was published in Paris in 1500 CE.

The distemper on canvas painting was completed in 1568, and is currently in the collection of the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, Italy.