Picture of the day

The painting is an Ecce Homo fragment. Similarly to other biblical paintings of Aertsen, the biblical event takes place at the back, while the foreground is dominated by a market scene. Somewhere in the background, the picture - cut off at the top - affords a small glimpse of the platform where the masses are shouting 'Barabbas' (John 19:4-6). This is optically overlaid by the bow-shaped arrangement of carts and market stalls - a reversal of emphasis which is typical of Aertsen.

Aertsen, Pieter (b. 1508-09, Amsterdam, d. 1575, Amsterdam). Netherlandish painter, active in his native Amsterdam and in Antwerp. A pioneer of still life and genre painting, he is best known for scenes that at first glance look like pure examples of these types, but which in fact have a religious scene incorporated in them (Butcher's Stall with the Flight into Egypt, University of Uppsala, 1551). His depictions of food, flowers, and everyday objects make him important in the development of still-life painting. Aertsen was the head of a long dynasty of painters, of whom the most talented was his nephew and pupil Joachim Bueckelaer.

Nicknamed Lange Pier (Peter the Long), born in Amsterdam, he became a citizen of Antwerp in 1542 where he resided until around 1556. Hosted initially by Jan Mandyn, a gifted follower of Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Aertsen links the Dutch and the Flemish schools. His sons, Pieter Pietersz and Aert Pieterz, also became painters. Aertsen also trained his nephew Joachim Beuckelaer.

 

One can read about him here.

One can see the Picture here.