The Four Elements: Fire
Artist: Joachim Beuckelaer (Dutch, Probably about 1535, died 1575)
Original Dimensions: 62 1/4" x 84 3/4"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (1570) "This large and well-stocked kitchen is a hive of industry. Four female servants prepare and cook food while a young man perches on a stool before the fire, swigging from an earthenware jug. Pots and pans litter the brick floor and every available surface seems stacked with produce. This is one of four large paintings in which food is used to symbolise the four elements of earth, air, fire and water, with biblical scenes in the background. Here, in the back room, is Christ in the house of Martha and Mary. When Martha complained of her sister’s laziness in leaving her to do all the work, Christ replied that Mary had chosen better by sitting at his feet and listening to him. Beuckelaer often put his signature in half-hidden places; here, it is on the edge of the sideboard. The date, 1570, is on the lintel above the doorway." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

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