How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Buy a print or image licence
You can purchase this reproduction
If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
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.
Title
The Four Elements: Fire. A Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Martha and Mary in the Background
Date
1570
Medium
Oil on canvas
Measurements
H 157.5 x W 215.5 cm
Accession number
NG6588
Acquisition method
Bought, 2001
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
-
Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Martha and Mary Walker Art Gallery -
The Fish Market Ferens Art Gallery -
A Maid in a Kitchen and Christ with Martha and Mary in the Background National Trust, Scotney Castle -
A Dutch Kitchen Scene National Trust, Treasurer's House, York -
Market Couple National Trust, Osterley Park -
The Four Elements: Fire. A Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Martha and Mary in the Background The National Gallery, London -
The Four Elements: Water. A Fish Market with the Miraculous Draught of Fishes in the Background The National Gallery, London - 4 more
