Several students thought the painting was inappropriate and demanded it would be removed. Credit: Belga

A historical painting from Antwerp painter Frans Snijders has been removed from the Cambridge university dining room following complaints from several vegetarian and vegan students.

The Fowl Market, an oil painting from Snijders (1579-1657) was on loan from the Fitzwilliam Museum and hanging in Hughes Hall, a part of the University of Cambridge, reports Het Nieuwsblad. It shows a market where a dog, a deer, birds, roosters, and a wild boar, many of which are dead, are offered for sale. The students did not find it appropriate to have that scene displayed where they eat.

They went to the school management and demanded that it be removed from the dining room. “Some diners felt unable to eat because it was on the wall,” said a spokesperson for the Fitzwilliam Museum, reports The Telegraph. “People who don’t eat meat found it slightly repulsive. They asked for it to come down,” they added.

The university decided to remove the painting.

Maïthé Chini

The Brussels Times