Market Couple

Joachim Beuckelaer (Antwerp c.1533 – Antwerp 1574). Oil painting on panel, Market Couple by Joachim Beuckelaer (Antwerp c.1533 – Antwerp 1574). A male and female at market; the female is on the right of the scene surrounded by baskets, one contains cabages, one contains poultry, one contains fruit; the man is taking a bird from the poultry basket; both figures look out at the viewer and wear contemporary northern European dress. It was from the accessories of pictures such as these by Beuckelaer and his older contemporary Pieter Aertsen, Amsterdam 1508/9-Antwerp 1575, that still-life painting developed. Some examples retain a religious pretext, such as Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, or the Denial of St. Peter, in the background, but most examples are purely celebratory of the natural world, often - as here - drawing out the erotic implications of fecundity. The same models served for a number of Beuckelaer's other pictures of the 1560s. Osterley Park and House, London (Accredited Museum)