Despite the prominent monogram, the author of this intriguing painting remains unknown to this day.
The wild boar has been a symbol of human (male) lust in Christian iconography since the Middle Ages. The man with the large wooden bowl looks at us in a pertinent way, there is clearly more going on here. The kitchen attributes are also not without a double meaning: the extinguished candle (a vanitas motif), the spoons, funnel and other cooking utensils are depicted in a very realistic way. The influence of Flemish kitchen scenes (eg Pieter Aertsen and Joachim Beuckelaer) is unmistakable.
Monogrammed on the barrel (see attachment)
Oil on Canvas, 108 x 94.5 cm (42 ¹/₂ x 37 ¹/₄ inches)
16th century