Pieter Aertsen

Aside from large altar pieces and other religious paintings, he was mainly known for tavern scenes and the genre of market and kitchen still lifes that he pioneered. He filled the foreground of these paintings with an abundance of fruit, vegetables, poultry, meat, fish and cheese, while the background was often a biblical scene that gave a particular meaning to these everyday items. In about 1555, Aertsen moved from Antwerp to Amsterdam. His cousin Joachim Beuckelaer probably took over his successful studio in Antwerp and further developed the market and kitchen still life genre. Very few works by Aertsen survived in the Northern Netherlands due to the Great Iconoclasm (Beeldenstorm) of 1566.