Christ in the House of Martha and Mary Pieter Aertsen 1553

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Pieter Aertsen 1553
From the collection of
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
In spite of its unambiguous title, this painting could easily be mistaken for a still life. Three tables laid with various kinds of food occupy much of the picture space. The scene in the background, however, clearly tells a story. It illustrates a biblical episode from the Gospel of Luke, which describes Christ’s visit to the home of the sisters Martha and Mary in the course of one of his journeys. While Martha laboured in the kitchen to please and indulge her guest, Mary sat at Christ’s feet to listen to him speak. Martha rebuked her sister, but Christ corrected her, saying that Mary had in fact made the better choice. To understand Pieter Aertsen’s painting we need to examine the foreground and background in relation to one another. The still life in the foreground represents material comforts, while the background scene extols the spiritual life. Considered together, they express a moral ideal. The observer’s eye, seeking the narrative biblical scene, is drawn to the alluring still life in the foreground. But to discover the true meaning we must follow Mary’s example and not succumb to the temptations of the material world.
Details
Title: Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Date Created: 1553
Theme: Christianity-New Testament
Physical Dimensions: w2000 x h1260 cm (Without frame)
Painter: Pieter Aertsen
Original Title: Christus in het huis van Martha and Maria
More Info: reference link - Read more about Golden Age - Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen - http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/disclaimer/
Type: Painting
Rights: Acquired with the collection of: D.G. van Beuningen 1958, http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/disclaimer/
External Link: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/objects?search=%221108%20%28OK%29%22
Medium: Oil on panel

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Rotterdam, Netherlands

A visit to Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is a journey through the history of art. Dutch and European masterpieces provide a comprehensive survey of art from the early Middle Ages to the 21st century, from Bosch, Rembrandt and Van Gogh to Dalí and Christo.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is one of the oldest museums in the Netherlands. In 1849 the lawyer Boijmans left his art collection to the city of Rotterdam. With the acquisition of the Van Beuningen collection in 1958 the museum got the second part of its name. The museum houses a unique collection of paintings, sculptures and everyday objects. The collection of prints and drawings is one of the best in the world. The museum also organises a diverse programme of spectacular temporary exhibitions throughout the year.

Marvel at the beautiful works by Bruegel the Elder and Rembrandt. Follow the development of Impressionism and Modernism in the paintings of Monet, Van Gogh and Mondriaan. Lose yourself in the dream world of the Surrealists Dalí and Magritte. And the art is not only inside: the museum has a wonderful view of the sculpture garden.

The museum shows how everyday objects have changed over the last eight hundred years, from medieval jugs and glassware from Holland’s Golden Age to Rietveld furniture and contemporary Dutch design. A young generation of visual artists such as Eliasson and Cattelan bring the museum’s art collection up to date.

The museum’s monumental building opened in 1935. It was designed by the municipal architect Van der Steur specially to house the collection. The stately redbrick building contains both large galleries where art can be viewed in daylight and more intimate spaces. The building survived the bombing of the city in 1940 and has been extended several times over the years. To this day the building’s tower remains a beacon in the city.

Pieter Aertsen
1508 - 1575

Pieter Aertsen, called Lange Pier because of his height, was a Dutch painter in the style of Northern Mannerism, who invented the monumental genre scene combining still life and genre painting, and very often also including a biblical scene in the background. He was born and died in Amsterdam, in his lifetime a relatively minor city, and painted there but mainly in Antwerp, then the centre of artistic life in the Netherlands. His genre scenes were influential on later Flemish Baroque painting, and also in Italy, and his peasant scenes preceded by a few years the much better-known paintings produced in Antwerp by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
http://hisour.com/art-medium/paintings/christ-in-the-house-of-martha-and-mary-pieter-aertsen-1553/