AERTSEN, PETER. – Painter, born in Amsterdam in 1507 or 1508, died there in 1575. He worked in Antwerp from 1535 to 1555; he was one of the founders of still-life painting, which he introduced with vigorous naturalism and without excessive scruples, together with genre figures, even into his religious paintings, which demonstrate a knowledge of the Italian Renaissance. Characteristic works include: two Calvaries (1552, Berlin and Balen), an Ecce Homo (Brussels, Devolder), Christ and the Adulteress (1559, Frankfurt am Main, Staedel Museum, and an autograph replica in Petersburg, private property).
BIBL.: J. Sievers, P. A., Lipsia 1908; M. J. Friedländer, Die alminderländische Malerei, XIII, Leida 1936, pp. 107–17 and Catal. 282–339.