[Sca-cooks] Turkey (was Food Myths)

[Susan Fox-Davis]

"Barbara G. Dodge" writes:

> A sculpture of a turkey was done by Giovanni Da Bologna in 1560.  It
> definitely looks like the standard turkey we are used to seeing today, so
> there is no doubt that some people were familiar with our favorite
> "gobbler"!

Wow, that's a turkey gobble alright.  I see other familiar-looking sculptures in
his "catalog" - he seems to be one of those artists whose works we see all the
time but whose name we never hear.  Too bad.

> The site I was searching is The Web Gallery of Art at:
> http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/index1.html
>
> If you click on the letter G on the left of the page, you can scroll through
> all the names till you find Giovanni Da Bologna.
>
> The site is wonderful, you can search by the time frame and narrow down your
> search to the period you are interested in.  There is also an artist
> (Giuseppe Arcimboldo1530-1593) who painted using fruits and vegetables to
> form the features of the face!  In one of his paintings (Vertumnus), it
> looks like he has used corn on the cob.  Could I be mistaking it for another
> vegetable?

These are so great!  That's a corn cob to the life, I don't think that there's
anything else it could be.  Hard to say whether it's there as a vegetable or as
a grain, since there are various sprays of wheat, millet etc. also incorporated
in the picture.  I also see a pair of red tapering items on the figure's right
chest that are either chili pods or the reddest carrots ever.  [another look]
Hmm, I think they are carrots after all.

Examine the painting "Water" as well, all sorts of sea creatures!

> I do realize that just because these things appear in period works of art it
> doesn't mean they ate them.  But it just might give one, well...food for
> thought!

<groan>

Selene Colfox