Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
ArtistAfter
Joos Goemare
(Flemish, ca. 1575-1618)
CultureDutch
Dateca. 1600
MediumOil on oak panel
Dimensions40 x 50 in. (101.6 x 127 cm)
Overall, Frame: 42 x 53 x 2 1/2 in. (106.7 x 134.6 x 6.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 42 x 53 x 2 1/2 in. (106.7 x 134.6 x 6.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Emile E. Wolf
Object number53.59.1
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 202
Label TextFollower of Joos Goemare Flemish, active 1575–1618 Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, ca. 1600 Oil on wood A smorgasbord of food fills the foreground of this bustling kitchen. Yet this celebration of nature’s bounty also conceals a stern warning, as the Bible story in the background reveals. When Christ visited the sisters Martha and Mary, Martha hurried to prepare a meal for him. Instead of helping, Mary sat and spoke with Christ. When Martha complained, Christ criticized her for worrying about the meal and praised Mary for her devotion. In so doing, he stressed the importance of the spiritual life over earthly preoccupations. A contemporary viewer would have known immediately that this overstuffed kitchen symbolizes the snares of the material world. As Mary demonstrates, such distractions had to be resisted in order to achieve life’s deeper purpose. Gift of a friend of Norfolk 53.59.1 Published ReferencesJefferson C. Harrison, "Northern Art: Fifteenth And Sixteenth Centuries," _The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide_ (Norfolk, Va.: The Chrysler Museum, 1984), no. 5. Ildikó Ember, _Delights for the Senses: Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Paintings from Budapest_, exh. cat., Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum and Szepmüvészeti Múzeum, Wausau, Wis. and Budapest, 1989, 72-73, no. 16. ISBN: 0945529015 **Different object, same imagery**