[Sca-cooks] Kitchen Scene by Campi

[Decker, Terry D.]

> I found this pic,
> <http://homepage.mac.com/festive_attyre/research/workdiary/ima
> ges/1campi.jpg
> >, and I was wondering what the lady bent over in pink was doing....
>
> Thanks!
>
> Apollonia

I would say she is using a large rasp to grate cheese.  Olwens suggestion
that it is bread for bread crumbs is interesting, but I think not for a
couple of reasons:  The shape of the object being grate has sharp angles
which does not match bread, but does match the way cheese fractures when
broken out of a horn.  Fresh bread doesn't grate well and stale bread
pulverizes easily in a mortar.


>
> I am more curious about what the old lady in the corner is doing!
>
> Kiriel

She's holding a double-ended pestle.  Just to her left you can make out the
large floor mortar containing what appears to be plums (given the color).

> >
> Hey!  Note the person in the background with the top crust of a pie on
> her rolling pin - just like grandma used to do.  The bottom
> crust is in
> a fairly standard looking pie plate.  When/where is that
> painting from?
>   Who's the artist?
>
> - Doc

Vincenzo Campi (1532-91) was one of four brothers working in Northern Italy.
He was trained by his brother, Guilio Campi (1500-72), who also trained
Bernardino Campi (1522-1590) and Antonio Campi (1532-1591).  He was active
around Milan although he did travel.  Vincenzo did two series of paintings
of food and cooking.  This painting is from the earlier series which are
commonly given a date of 1580.  The second series is usually dated 1590.
Some of the paintings are probably prior to those dates.  The two series
have distinctive styles and models.

I gave a talk on Food in Renaissance Art at the first Serve It Forth Cooking
Symposium and Campi was the backbone of the lecture.  I'm in the process of
revising the paper, which was a rather hurried effort.

The painting does supply an answer to the question, "What does a period tart
pan look like?"

Bear