Vanitas Still Life with Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

Pieter Aertsen dated this picture very precisely, 25 July 1552, under the window at the top right. The whole front of it is taken up by things. A leg of venison hangs over a cupboard, with bread, jugs and a flower bouquet, folded papers and a money purse, all the goods of a comfortable household. Behind them, through a doorway, is the scene from the Gospel of Luke in which Martha complains that her sister Mary sits listening to Christ instead of helping in the house. Aertsen made sure no one could miss the point. On the fireplace he wrote in Dutch that Mary has chosen the better part, and on the floor he added the reference to Luke 10. The panel belonged to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, later left the collection, and Vienna bought it back at an auction in Berlin in 1930.