I was introduced to Pieter Aertsen’s painting, A Meat Stall with the Holy Family Giving Alms in a homily delivered by Benjamin von Bredow at St. Paul’s Church Halifax in 2019. I became fascinated by some of the hidden messages in the painting. It was painted in 1551 in Antwerp in what was a province in what was then called the ‘low countries’—now the Netherlands. Art critics have noted its unusual mixing of the still life form that dominates the foreground with a variety of smaller scenes, symbols or signs in the background that deliver a Christian or moral message. Looking into the historical context of the painting—when, where and why it was painted—puts all this into clearer focus.
In 1551, Antwerp had become a prosperous cosmopolitan city with a growing mercantile class. According to Peter Francopan’s, The Skills Roads, the wealth in Antwerp, like that of several other cities in the low countries, was not only based on the development of trade within Europe, but the import of spices and other precious goods from the east. It had a growing mercantile class that would build the foundations for capitalism and epitomized the growing political and economic power of Europe, especially northern Europe that augured in western colonialism. Indeed, by 1531 Antwerp had the world’s first purpose-built trading exchange which was to become the model for the Royal London Stock Exchange and in 1602 the Netherlands established the East Indies Company that became a model for the British East India Company, both of which formed the basis for colonialism in south Asia.
On the face of it, the painting is about the temptation to consume meat during lent—you cannot miss the meat, but do you see the symbol of lent—two fish on a platter in the form of cross behind the meat? However, as I read up on the painting and looked at it more closely, I realized it is not only contrasting the desires of ‘the flesh’ with the spiritual practices but it is also telling us something about greed, privilege and power in the face of want.
If we look just above the two fish on a pewter platter, we see a small opaque miniature of the flight into Egypt; but what is interesting in this depiction is that Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus are not alone—they are accompanied by other refugees fleeing the killing, and Mary is turning to give alms to a beggar. For some reason it had never struck me that if Herod was busy slaughtering children, it was likely that many families fled into Egypt along with Mary and Joseph.
Then in the background on the right we see the butcher (we know it is a butcher because of the red tunic worn by members of the butcher’s guild) leaning over and pouring water into a jug of wine. The butcher is standing in the middle of oyster shells. In ancient times oysters symbolized Aphrodite, the goddess of love, sex, and fertility. Further in the distance we see a small group near a table and another carcass of meat. Perhaps this scene conveys the fact that though overwhelmingly Christian, some people in Antwerp were not observing lent in perhaps they way they should.
Notably the artist also features the butcher’s guild sign on the orange post to the left of the large rib carcass. The butcher’s guild was the oldest and most powerful of the guilds in Antwerp with its own Vleeshuis or “meat house” and if you wanted to buy meat in Antwerp you had to buy it at the Vleeshuis. It was built to look like a church—that may be a depiction of it in the top left corner of the painting.
But there is more. On the top right of the painting there is a sign nailed to the corner of the roof advertising land for sale. According to art historian Dr. Irene Schaudies this refers to an actual event in Antwerp in 1551. In order to make room for development the City forced an order of Augustinian sisters to sell their St. Elisabeth hospital and surrounding land at a loss. This alone was controversial, but later the city sold some of the land it did not need to an unpopular real estate developer for private profit. So, maybe some of this is beginning to sound somewhat familiar, but what is it the painting tell us?
To be sure, the painting is delivering a message about personal Christian virtue. The ‘flesh’ the painting depicts can be understood at an individual level—what we should and should not have been doing during lent, but to me the message is broader. It is clearly telling us something about the nature of power, privilege, and corruption in Antwerp in 1551 and I believe it is warning us about that too. It is telling us to be aware, that in contrast to the charity (love) demonstrated by Mary, greed corrupts the body corporate. This reminds me that as Christians, we are not only called to practice restraint and charity (love) in our personal lives, but to support those values and actions that uphold civic virtues and promote community wellbeing.
