From an Antwerp family of painters, Beuckelaer trained in the studio of
Pieter Aertsen. In 1560 he became an independent
master, and continued to develop themes in painting pioneered by Aertsen, arguably surpassing him in skill.
Both Beuckelaer and Aertsen are particularly known for their market and kitchen scenes, which display provisions and domestic activity with
illusionistic details but on an often heroic scale. These scenes frequently form a foil to a biblical subject in the background, and suggest a deliberate contrast between the physical and the spiritual.