Pieter Aertsen's Meat Stall

Art is too meaningful for us to simply glance at and pass by. Every piece of art that exists has a meaning and purpose to it. It is important that we take the time to analyze and understand art. Pieter Aertsen's, Meat Stall is a rude awakening to those who don’t know the reality of meat butchering. Not only is the piece eye-catching because of the gruesomeness but also because of the detail put into this artwork. I'll be analyzing this painting in a few different realms, first with looking at color. The Meat Stall seems dominated by darks hues and mainly secondary colors. In the front area of the painting, which is filled with raw meat, the colors seem to be more saturated and vibrant. Whereas, the back of the painting has a very low saturation. These two contrasting areas show that
Most of the lines in this piece of work are used on the architecture of the meat stall. The pillars holding the stall together are structured using lines, the dining hall (near the back of the picture) is created by walls which consist of lines. Lines start to become blurry and less distinguishable where the woods are depicted. There is also a tall tower, almost lighthouse esc, in the backdrop that is solely distinguished by silhouettes. The woods are determined simply by silhouettes and blurred lines as well. The Meat Stall seems life size, nothing in the picture is monumental. The third lens of analyzing is scale. Something that seems larger than the rest of the painting is the cow’s head sitting at the front table. The cow's head isn't monumental but its does seem to be at a larger scale than the rest of the raw meat. The cow’s head has more significance, because of portion but as well as its eyes. If you notice, the cow’s head is the only raw meat that has eyes intact and staring wide open at the viewer. The open eyes add to the gruesomeness of the painting, showing real life existed in these