Kitchen Scene with the Parable of the Rich Man and Poor Lazarus 1610 - 1620

Pieter Cornelisz. van Rijck’s “Kitchen Scene with the Parable of the Rich Man and Poor Lazarus” (1610-1620) is an oil-on-panel Dutch Golden Age painting that features a bustling kitchen scene. The artwork’s title highlights its central theme: a biblical parable from the Gospel of Luke about a rich man who ignores a poor beggar, Lazarus, and subsequently suffers in the afterlife. The kitchen depicts a table piled high with sumptuous food and drink, a stark contrast to the meager existence of Lazarus, who is subtly alluded to in the background. Van Rijck’s masterful attention to detail, from the elaborate cookware to the lifelike animals, creates a scene that is both visually stunning and thematically poignant, capturing the stark realities of wealth and poverty in 17th-century Dutch society.