So-called market scenes, with their colourful displays of food and kitchen implements, in fact contained a notably erotic content expressed through the variety of poultry and dairy goods seemingly offered by country people to the viewer. This erotic element is made explicit in the couple on the right. Scenes of this type were extremely popular in Flanders in the sixteenth century.
The foreground shows an everyday scene of a kitchen filled with still-life elements and two women at work. In the background, beneath a portico, Jesus can be seen visiting the house of Martha and Mary, as is told in the book of Luke (Luke 10, 38-42). This Bible story is appropriate for emphasizing spirituality over material things. The abundance of objects in the foreground, recalling the opulence