The Slaughtered Pig
The Slaughtered Pig The Slaughtered Pig

By Isaack Janz van Ostade

A slaughtered pig opened out, hanging on a ladder: its belly has been gutted. Children are playing with the pig’s bladder which has been inflated like a balloon. The picture contains a warning, the dead animal alludes to the transience of life. The pigs greed is an allegory of man’s lust for money; no matter how much a pig eats, and no matter how much wealth a person amasses, death awaits us all in the end. The pig’s bladder emphasizes the message: the world is nothing more than bladder filled with air.

Year

1642

Material

oil on panel

Dimensions

48,3 x 39,8 cm

Credit

Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem

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The Slaughtered Pig
The Slaughtered Pig The Slaughtered Pig

By Isaack Janz van Ostade