ticketsMember | Make a donation

Fish Market

Joachim Beuckelaer Netherlandish
1568
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 637
This masterfully composed view of a fish market represents a new kind of scene of everyday life, initiated by Beuckelaer and his teacher and uncle, Pieter Aertsen, who lived and worked in Antwerp. It was painted during a tumultuous era of religious warfare, which disrupted the art market and motivated a change from purely religious to more secular themes. Here, the flourishing fish industry is celebrated through the display of great bounty from the sea. Such pictures may have contained a moralizing subtext, warning against the excesses of food and sexual pleasures.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Fish Market
  • Artist: Joachim Beuckelaer (Netherlandish, Antwerp 1533–1575 Antwerp)
  • Date: 1568
  • Medium: Oil on Baltic oak
  • Dimensions: 50 5/8 × 68 7/8 in. (128.6 × 174.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift and Bequest of George Blumenthal, by exchange, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.146
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Vegetable Market, from the pair Meat Market and Vegetable Market, Peeter van der Borcht Netherlandish, Etching
Vegetable Market, from the pair Meat Market and Vegetable Market
Peeter van der Borcht
Johannes Baptista Vrints
ca. 1575–1608
Kitchen Scene with Kitchen Maid Preparing Fish, Christ at Emmaus in the Background, from Kitchen and Market Scenes with Biblical Scenes in the Background, Jacob Matham Netherlandish, Engraving
Kitchen Scene with Kitchen Maid Preparing Fish, Christ at Emmaus in the Background, from Kitchen and Market Scenes with Biblical Scenes in the Background
Jacob Matham
ca. 1603
Market Scene, the Rest on the Flight into Egypt in the Background, from Kitchen and Market Scenes with Biblical Scenes in the Background, Jacob Matham Netherlandish, Engraving; first state of two
Market Scene, the Rest on the Flight into Egypt in the Background, from Kitchen and Market Scenes with Biblical Scenes in the Background
Jacob Matham
Pieter Aertsen
1603
Meat Market (from the pair Meat Market and Vegetable Market), Peeter van der Borcht Netherlandish, Etching; first state of two
Meat Market (from the pair Meat Market and Vegetable Market)
Peeter van der Borcht
Johannes Baptista Vrints
ca. 1575–1608
Execution of the Five Kings of the Amorites, Joachim Beuckelaer Netherlandish, Oil on paper
Execution of the Five Kings of the Amorites
Joachim Beuckelaer
1533–74

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.