Market Scene Joachim Beuckelaer

Large genre scenes set in markets or kitchens were extremely popular in Netherlandish art in the mid-1500s. Although the tradition of depicting aspects of the everyday lives of peasants originates from Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the compositional schemes commonly found in this genre were invented by the Amsterdamborn artist Pieter Aertsen. His most important follower was his nephew and pupil, Joachim Beuckelaer of Antwerp, though from the 1560s onwards, a growing number of Netherlandish and foreign painters began to produce similar compositions.
The market scenes are characterised by the minute attention to detail in the still-life elements and by the firmly outlined, vigorous monumentality of the peasant figures. The goods featuring in the pictures tend to convey a moralistic message: eggs and poultry are references to sinful physical desires, while the peasant couples embody the pleasures of the senses