The Northern Renaissance

 

A Meat Stall with the Holy Family Giving Alms

By Pieter Aertsen

The Artist

Pieter Aertsen was a Dutch painter that was known for his incredibly detailed paintings of mundane scenes and objects. He was born in Amsterdam sometime in 1508 and died on June 2, 1575. Aertsen, commonly called Langhe Peter (Tall Peter) due to his height, was apprenticed while living in Antwerp where he was a member of the Guild of St. Luke, which was a prominent European guild for painters and artists. He eventually moved back to his native Amsterdam in 1555 where he lived until his passing.

Aertsen became known for his paintings of everyday domestic scenes and objects, often with religious imagery moved into the background. His panels were large, and he painted with an eye for detail. His paintings often contained hidden symbols that were references to the political and religious issues of the time.

The Painting

A Meat Stall with the Holy Family Giving Alms was painted in 1551 and is an excellent example of Aertsen’s work. It is a large panel measuring 45.5 x 66.5 inches. As the title suggests it depicts a meat stall in the city of Antwerp with it’s various wares while, in the background, the Virgin Mary and the Holy Family distribute alms to the faithful. This subversion of religious images relegated to the background became a common theme in Aertsen’s works.

To a modern eye, this painting can be shocking in its visceral depiction of the dismembered animals. The skinned ox-head in the foreground, the faded pig’s head, the tortuous intestines hanging above the stall are all images that we modern viewers are not accustomed to. However, scenes such as this one would have been considered mundane in the marketplaces of Europe.

Analysis

A Meat Stall with the Holy Family Giving Alms is incredibly detailed and is an excellent example of, not just Aertsen’s talent, but of Northern Renaissance painting in general. Aertsen is masterful in capturing the minute details of the scene from the reflection of light in the oxen’s eye to the creases in the napkin behind it. 

One can easily focus in on any part of the painting and find it rich with detail. For instance, the butcher on the right of the panel is adding water to his wine while the revelers in the inn are oblivious to his deceit.

Aertsen’s use of color is also remarkable for its ability to bring the panel to life and add depth and symbolism to the two-dimensional image. In particular, the cooler blues and greens that dominate the religious scene in the background serves to contrast the more vibrant reds and yellows of the worldly images of the butcher and his customers.

This painting is also a superb example of perspective. The meat stall’s contents dominate the foreground of the painting which helps to establish scale. By diminishing the sizes of each element in relation to the foreground, Aertsen gives his painting the illusion of depth and distance.

While I would not personally hang this painting in my home, mostly because my vegan son would find it incredibly disturbing, I do enjoy this painting for the reasons that I have listed. Furthermore, when I first encountered it, I felt immediately drawn to it for its mundane brutality and intensity.

Humanism

Aertsen was heavily influenced by the humanism of the Renaissance. He relegated the overt religious elements of his paintings to the background and chose to draw the viewers eye to the secular elements that dominate the foreground. Meat has often been used in religious imagery as a symbol of the weakness of the flesh and Aertsen elected to make that meat the focus of his painting. Even in the background elements, the butcher in his red coat are featured more prominently than the Holy Family. The religious symbolism of watering down the wine would also not have been missed on Aertsen’s contemporaries. 

In fact, the religious elements of the painting are so inconsequential that Aertsen seems to have included the crossed fish, fish being heavily associated with Christianity since the Romans, pointing at the Holy Family, just in case someone might miss seeing them.  

Additioinally, Aertsen’s panel hides references to the politics of Antwerp, another choice to focus on more human matters than spiritual ones. For example, the sign at the top right of the stall reads “Land for sale out back: 154 rods, either by the piece or all at once” and is a reference to a controversial land deal in which the city council of Antwerp forced a group of nuns to sell their land to the city at a loss.

That Aertsen included the sign in this painting is indicative of the crossover between art and politics that was so prevalent during the Renaissance period.

 

References

 Houghton, Charlotte. "This Was Tomorrow: Pieter Aertsen's "Meat Stall" as Contemporary Art." The Art Bulletin (2004): 277-300.

Pioch, Nicholas. "Aertsen, Pieter." 14 October 2002. Webmuseum Paris. 11 February 2021.

Schaudies, Irene. "Pieter Aertsen, Meat Stall." 09 August 2015. smarthistory.org. 11 February 2021.