BEUCKELAER, Joachim
(b. 1530, Antwerpen, d. 1574, Antwerpen)

Kitchen Interior

1566
Oil on wood, 109 x 139 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

In this painting Beuckelaer illustrated the widespread notion that food and heat are the source of unbridled sexuality and excess of all kinds. The servant's gesture with her hand on a cabbage, symbol of an excessively luxurious and spendthrift life, may duplicate the licentious scene in the background.