Rembrandt: The Slaughtered Ox (detail)

Year: 1655

Collection The Louvre, Paris

Still Life with Pig's Head, Trotters and Sausage , Monogrammist JVR,

Year: 1600 - 1650

oil on panel, h 55cm × w 72cm.

Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

 

Meat

In the 17th Century the Dutch prefered meat of castrated animals: ox (castrated bull), wether (castrated ram) and capon (castrated rooster). The meat is fattier and tastier than 'normal' meat. In that time it was usual to eat all the animal's parts, 'offal' included. The Dutch title of this painting is: "T'is Al Vant Varcken", translated: "It's All From The Pig". This expression refers to the lower appreciation of pigmeat in that time.

Pieter Aertsen: Butcher's Stall with the Flight into Egypt (detail)

Year: 1551

University Art Collections, Uppsala University, Sweden.