Pieter Aertsen’s Meat Stall with the Holy Family Giving Alms is an interesting painting as it provides a wonderful glimpse into the varied attitudes of 16th century Dutch society. It combines the habits of the peasantry with the nobility, and the activities and environment of the religious with the irreligious.
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Pieter Aertsen, A Meat Stall with the Holy Family Giving Alms, 1551, oil on panel, 45 1/2 x 66 1/2″ / 115.6 x 168.9 cm ( North Carolina Museum of Art) Ox head (detail), Pieter Aertsen, A Meat Stall with the Holy Family Giving Alms, 1551, oil on panel, 45 1/2 x 66 1/2″ / 115.6 x 168.9 cm (North Carolina Museum of Art)
Many scholars have commented on the bold originality of Aertsen’s compositions, and rightly so. In the sixteenth century, religious or mythological scenes usually occupied pride of place in works of art, while everyday objects were considered mere accessories.
Aertsen certainly seems to have been the first to foreground meat in a prestigious, costly oil painting on a monumental size.
It must have been important to the picture’s original meaning, because the sign appears in all four, almost identical versions of the Meat Stall that Aertsen painted. To make a long story short, the city of Antwerp decided to develop what was then the southeast side of town.
Aertsen’s originality and painterly skill would have been sufficient to charm an international connoisseur among Antwerp’s wealthy merchant community, who came from countries as diverse as Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Germany, and of course Italy.
Pieter Aertsen, Christ with Mary and Martha, 1552, 101.5 x 60 cm (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) Pieter Aertsen, Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, 1552, 101.5 x 60 cm (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) Aertsen certainly seems to have been the first to foreground meat in a prestigious, costly oil painting on a monumental size.
At the upper right, posted on top of the meat stall, is a small sign in Dutch that, when translated, reads: “Land for sale out back: 154 rods, either by the piece or all at once.”. This text refers to an actual sale of land that took place in 1551, and a controversial one at that.
Antwerp in the mid-sixteenth century was one of the greatest centers of mercantile trade at the time: populous, prosperous, and booming.
The way of the flesh and the way of the spirit. The Dutch painter Pieter Aertsen, who worked for many years in Antwerp, was later renowned for his life-size market scenes with exuberant still life elements. Many scholars have commented on the bold originality of Aertsen’s compositions, and rightly so.
In this and other roughly contemporary works like Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (below), Aertsen has deliberately reversed this formula. He gave all the attention to the accessories, which seem to spill out of the picture and into the viewer’s own space.
The art of rendering well. Aertsen’s bold move can also be seen in light of his artistic context. Antwerp in the mid-sixteenth century was one of the greatest centers of mercantile trade at the time: populous, prosperous, and booming.
Pieter Aertsen, Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, 1552, 101.5 x 60 cm (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) Aertsen certainly seems to have been the first to foreground meat in a prestigious, costly oil painting on a monumental size.
Aertsen’s originality and painterly skill would have been sufficient to charm an international connoisseur among Antwerp’s wealthy merchant community, who came from countries as diverse as Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Germany, and of course Italy.
Antwerp in the mid-sixteenth century was one of the greatest centers of mercantile trade at the time: populous, prosperous, and booming.
Traditional groups and values, such as the charitable nuns and their inviolable property, or the venerable butchers and their hereditary rights, were under fire from powerful, wealthy entrepreneurs and the city’s desire for economic growth, a matter of concern for all citizens .
At the upper right, posted on top of the meat stall, is a small sign in Dutch that, when translated, reads: “Land for sale out back: 154 rods, either by the piece or all at once.”. This text refers to an actual sale of land that took place in 1551, and a controversial one at that.
Food and drink in European Painting, 1400-1800 on The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Still-life Painting in Northern Europe on The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.