[Sca-cooks] Clove defined and symbolism

[Johnna Holloway]

I was thinking the consensus was butter or cheese when we last discussed
the painting.

But of course one time one sees butter, one time cheese, but I don't  
see it as a wafer.

Just to be contrary Food and Feasting in Art by Silvia Malaguzzi  
(Getty 2008) has this painting
on page 134 and there the description reads:

"The fish garnished with a carnation is a symbol of Christ. A fish is  
a traditional emblem of Christ as
sacrificial victim, and its symbolism is emphasized here by the red  
flower."

So is it a piece of fish that bears the marks of a press or griddle?

She also identifies it as being Christ in the House of Martha and Mary.

Johnnae


On Apr 5, 2010, at 11:46 AM, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:

>>
>> --On Monday, April 05, 2010 8:07 AM -0700  
>> edoard at medievalcookery.com wrote:
>>
>>> It's one of those "mysterious football-shaped things" (TM).  In this
>>> particular case, it's been stuck with a flower.  Food for thought,  
>>> eh?
>>
>> I'd say it's a wafer, and the combination relates to the (I think)  
>> Mary
>> visiting St Elizabeth scene behind it. (Jesus and John the Baptist  
>> in the
>> womb). In this context, a flower makes sense.
>>
>> toodles, margaret
>
> It could be a wafer, and it might be significant to note that wafers  
> were often skewered for  transport and sale on the streets, meaning  
> there would be a little hole in them, much of the time.
> I think it might be butter or cheese, though.
>
> Adamantius