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Thematic Tours THEMATIC TOURS Food In addition to being an essential source of nourishment, food is also an ORIGINAL IDEA BY Blanca Ugarte object used in cult worship, a sign of wealth, a social ritual and a source ADAPTED BY Teresa de la Vega of shared pleasure that involves all the senses and feeds the spirit. Given that, as the well known saying has it, “we eat more with our eyes than with our mouths”, the art of cookery, which involves creativity and colour in a way comparable to painting, has enormous visual appeal. As in an alchemist’s laboratory and surrounded by flasks, jars, paintbrushes and spatulas, both the cook and the artist transform their primary materials — saffron, berries, walnut and linseed oil, casein, fish tail, vinegar and egg white — into a creation that marks the transition from nature to culture through the opposition of the raw and the cooked. Through this gastronomic survey the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection aims to satisfy visitors’ appetites, tempting your palate and feasting your eye. [CENTRAL HALL] our gastronomic survey begins picnics, take part in a range of festivities with a view of the junction between the and celebrations and exchange news. JAN VAN KESSEL III (attributed to) Carrera de San Jerónimo and the Paseo Fountains and water sellers were com- Amberes, 1654–Madrid, 1708 del Prado, which is the location of the mon sights on Madrid’s streets before View of the Carrera de Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza houses had individual water supplies. San Jerónimo and the Paseo del today. The view of this part of Madrid According to a Treatise on Water of 1637 Prado with a line of Carriages, reflects the way it looked during the “one of the great virtues of the Spanish is 1686 reign of Charles II. It was a meeting place that they drink a lot of water as they are Oil on canvas. 164 x 445 cm for the elite members of the capital’s soci- not as enthusiastic about wine as other inv. ctb.1998.81 ety but also for the working classes. Peo- Europeans.” ple gathered to see and be seen, to have If you look carefully at this painting you will also see a churrera or seller of fried dough strips. Known as “fruits of the frying pan”, these sweetmeats originated in the Arab world. They became extremely popular in Spain and also spread to South America. The strolling vendors who sold them are no longer to be seen on the streets of Madrid but their image in this painting evokes a rich gastronomic herit- age which, like Spain’s artistic patrimony, is an inalienable cultural treasure that should be preserved and appreciated. Naked Eve THEMATIC TOURS 2 [ROOM 3] this scene depicts the last supper, however, be assumed that the empty plat- during which the institution of the Eucha- ter on the table in this scene had been THE MASTER OF THE VIRGO rist forged a New Alliance between God used for a lamb, which was one of the INTER VIRGINES (follower of) and man. Christ, with Saint John resting foodstuffs eaten during this Jewish festival Active in Delft between ca. 1483 and 1498 on his lap, gives Judas the bread dipped in and prefigures the sacrifice of Christ who The Last Supper, ca. 1485 wine and thus points out the person who offered himself up in order to save man- Oil on panel. 69.7 x 38 cm will betray him just a few hours later. kind, according to the Christian interpre- inv. 270 (1956.5) The Jewish festival of the Passover or tation. In some Renaissance paintings, Pesah commemorates the liberation of the however, we encounter various curious Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The word alternatives: in one of the panels for the means “leap”, referring to God “passing Maestà in Siena cathedral Duccio di Buon- over the houses of the people of Israel”, insegna, for example, depicted a suckling who painted their door jambs and lintels pig, which was an animal considered im- with lamb’s blood to save their first-born pure according to Mosaic law; Zanino di children from the plague that would deci- Pietro painted river crabs in a fresco of mate the Egyptians. Food plays a particu- Saint George in San Polo di Piave; while larly important role in the celebration of in the most celebrated Last Supper in the this festival as it commemorates the expe- history of art, Leonardo da Vinci depicted riences of slavery, exodus and liberation. a plate with what seems to be an eel, The Bible does not provide details on which were also creatures forbidden in the the food at the Last Supper as the Gospels Judaic tradition. The inclusion of these only refer to the bread and wine that was dishes may perhaps constitute an allusion transformed into spiritual nourishment, to the Christian rejection of the Judaic dis- signifying the path to eternal life. It can, tinction between pure and impure foods. [ROOM 6] the woman depicted here by paris food and eroticism, reflecting Terence’s Bordone holds a monkey by a chain, an maxim sine Cerere et Baco friget Venus, PARIS BORDONE animal traditionally associated with the meaning “Without Ceres and Bacchus, Treviso, 1500–Venice, 1571 sense of taste and one that became an Venus freezes”. The secular association Portrait of a young Woman, emblem of greed. Allegories of this type, of sensuality and food is also echoed in ca. 1543-50 which became extremely popular dur- popular beliefs. Thus certain types of Oil on canvas. 103 x 83 cm ing the Mannerist and Baroque periods, pasta are said to have anthropomorphic inv. 55 (1936.5) often had an ambiguous meaning given origins: tagliatelle, for example, were tra- that the senses were considered the ditionally invented by a cook in imita- means to acquire knowledge but also an tion of the blonde hair of Lucrezia encouragement to sin. Borgia, while the original tortellini were The opulent beauty of the model sug- modelled on the navel of an obliging gests a metaphorical association between lady. Naked Eve THEMATIC TOURS 3 [ROOM 9] the sitter, matthäus schwarz, in Augsburg in 1530, which was presided worked in the service of the powerful over by the Archduke Ferdinand I of Aus- CHRISTOPH AMBERGER Fugger family and wrote a number of tria and his brother, the Emperor (?), ca. 1505–Augsburg, 1561/62 treatises on accountancy. He also wrote Charles V. Schwarz commissioned three Portrait of Matthäus Schwarz, 1542 a fascinating work known as the Trach- expensive suits for the occasion and man- Oil on panel. 73.5 x 61 cm tenbuch that is now in the Herzog Anton aged to lose weight. In other words, he inv. 4 (1935.1) Ulrich Museum in Brunswick. This went on a diet for the Diet. manuscript, which is essentially bio- By the time he posed for this portrait graphical, includes 137 illustrations of Schwarz had got fat again and his exces- the most important items of clothing sive enthusiasm for eating may in fact that Schwarz owned during the course have been the cause of his subsequent of his lifetime. It is an extremely impor- apoplexy. On the window ledge we see a tant document as it offers highly valua- glass of red wine, which could be a refer- ble information on male dress of this ence to his nature as a bon vivant or to the period. One of the illustrations depicts origins of his family’s fortune in the wine Schwarz naked, aged 29, accompanied trade. There is also a sheet of paper with by an annotation that reads “I have got details about the sitter in the form of a fat and spread out.” calendar and his astrological information. Schwarz’s concern for his appearance Another unusual element is worth not- reached its height with the celebration of ing: Schwarz’s horoscope written in gold the Imperial Diet (Reichstag in German) letters on the sky. [ROOM 10] All human history attests esis does, however, mention fig leaves in That happiness for man connection with the Fall as a symbol of JAN GOSSAERT — the hungry sinner! - shame for the sin committed. In general, Maubeuge (?), ca. 1478–Antwerp (?), 1532 Since Eve ate apples, the apple was selected as the fruit in Adam and Eve, ca. 1507-08 much depends on dinner. question for reasons of semantic similar- Oil on panel. 56.5 x 37 cm (Lord Byron) ity (apple in Latin is malum, which is inv. 163 (1930.26) similar to mal) and due to its identifica- since the moment when adam and tion with beauty and pleasure in the clas- eve sampled the Forbidden Fruit in the sical world. The latter association is Garden of Eden, food has played an im- reflected in a number of myths includ- portant role in biblical and sacred litera- ing the Garden of the Hesperides and the ture. In fact, the Bible does not state that Judgment of Paris, an episode to which the Fruit was an apple and as a result the basket of apples in Pietro Longhi’s artists have on occasions preferred to de- painting The Tickle may refer (on dis- pict it as an apricot, a peach or a fig. Gen- play in Room 18). Naked Eve THEMATIC TOURS 4 [ROOM 11] in his dictionary of cooking alexan- da tavola, “ornate, temporary decorations dre Dumas (1802-1870) asked: “Do we in made of sugar, marzipan and butter” that ANONYMOUS VENETIAN ARTIST fact owe Titian’s masterpieces to spices. were designed by celebrated artists such Active ca.
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