How does Pieter Aertsen manage to verge so closely upon the “real?” What was it about this work and others like it that made them so familiar to contemporary viewers and their daily lived experiences? And finally, what greater purpose did this “realism” serve? In order to begin trying to answer these questions, I will consider the market and kitchen paintings of Aertsen and his nephew and student, Joachim Beuckelaer (1533-1574).