Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

The young woman grips a pestle over a mortar. Fish, eggs, garlic and an earthenware jug lie close to the front edge, while an older woman points beside her. The kitchen’s objects are given the same concentrated attention as the faces. Diego Velázquez, a Spanish painter, made this early work around 1618. A smaller scene at the upper right shows Christ visiting the sisters Martha and Mary. In the Gospel story, Mary listens while Martha complains that she has been left to prepare the meal alone. Christ’s response favours Mary’s attention to his teaching. The kitchen scene gives the problem of work and contemplation a contemporary setting, though the two foreground women cannot be identified with complete certainty as the biblical sisters. The smaller scene may be seen through an opening, but it has also been interpreted as a reflection or a picture on the wall. That ambiguity helps connect two kinds of space. The pounding of ingredients and the act of listening remain close enough to invite comparison.