We are the buyers, leaning over the counter while the butchers offer meat from the freshly slaughtered boar. This glimpse of everyday life reflects Bolognese realism which was to have its impact on artists such as Annibale Carracci and is thought to be the first depictionof a butcher’s shop in Italian painting. It may also be a satirical reference to the pleasures of the ‘flesh’ in a time of religious unease.