Philippe Rousseau, 'The Fish Market', probably about 1834-50

An enormous, almost grotesque pile of fish is brilliantly illuminated amid the gloom of its surroundings. The heap seems to consist mainly of skate, and propped up against it is what may be a red mullet, its mouth open seemingly from its last gasp. A second such fish lies at an angle directly underneath, its head propped up on sacking. Apart from the fish there are other highlighted objects breaking up the gloom, from the saucepan hanging up at the right to the basin propped up underneath, whose brass interior captures the light. The rest of the scene is in semi-darkness. The combination of pillars, low ceiling and dark brown tones makes for a claustrophobic scene.

In the shadows to the left, a woman at the far end of the table is gutting a fish. On the right a young man is faintly visible. Through openings at the back can be glimpsed the white coiffed hats of more women, either market goers or further workers. Philippe Rousseau was a great exponent of still lifes, from flowers and food to kitchen utensils. He was particularly influenced by the French eighteenth-century artist Chardin. Here the juxtaposition of what is essentially a still life with a genre scene of market day is also reminiscent of Flemish market scenes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, where detailed depictions of the produce on offer dominate the foreground, and market traders and customers inhabit the background. One example is Beuckelaer’s Fish Market of 1568 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). A similar display of fish is presented in his The Four Elements: Water. It has been suggested that the dimly lit figures were the work of fellow artist Eugene Isabey, but there is no firm evidence to back this up, and Rousseau could have easily been imitating Isabey’s style.