Pieter Aertson
(Dutch, 1507-1575)
Virgin Mary
Oil on panel
22 ½” x 41 ½”
Inscribed lower left

Pieter Aertsen (Amsterdam, 1508 – 3 June 1575), called Lange Pier (“Tall Pete”) because of his height, was a Dutch painter in the style of Northern Mannerism. He is credited with the invention of the monumental genre scene, which combines still life and genre painting and often also includes a biblical scene in the background. He was active in his native city Amsterdam but also worked for a long period in Antwerp, then the centre of artistic life in the Netherlands.  His genre scenes were influential on later Flemish Baroque painting, Dutch still life painting and also in Italy.  His peasant scenes preceded by a few years the much better-known paintings produced in Antwerp by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.