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Audio Stop 203

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On a tabletop spread with an ivory-white cloth, plates, and white porcelain bowls containing sweets, fruit, olives, and a cooked fowl are arranged around the largest platter, which holds the head, wings, and tail of a peacock stuck into a tall, baked pie, in this horizontal still life painting. The front, left corner of the table is near the lower left corner of the painting, so the tabletop extends off the right side of the composition. The white tablecloth lies over a second cloth underneath, which is only visible along the right edge. The cloth underneath has a leafy, geometric pattern in burgundy red against a lighter, rose-red background. The peacock pie is set near the back of the table, to our right, so it fills the upper right quadrant of the composition. The bird holds a pink rose in its beak. In front of it, near the lower right corner of the painting, a white porcelain bowl painted with teal-green floral and geometric designs holds about ten pieces of pale yellow and blush-red fruit. A pewter plate next to it, to our left, holds dried fruit and baked, stick-like sweets, some covered with white sugar. A pile of salt sits atop a gold, square vessel between the sweets and the peacock pie. Another blue-patterned, white porcelain bowl filled with green olives sits near the back of the table next to a lidded, pewter pitcher with a long spout. Other pewter plates hold a baked fowl, like a small chicken, and, closest to us, a partially cut lemon with its peel curling off the plate. Nuts, more fruit, an ivory-handled knife, bread rolls, and flat biscuits sit on the white cloth among the plates. One glass with a wide stem covered in nubs and a flaring bowl sits near the back, left corner of the table, filled with a pale yellow liquid. An empty glass lies with the upper rim on another pewter plate, to our left. Also on the plate is a bunched up white napkin and a leather case for the knife. The background behind the still life is brown.

Pieter Claesz

Still Life with Peacock Pie, 1627

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 50

名厨Carla Hall审视Claesz所描绘的宴会场景中的丰盛食物。

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讲解员:
荷兰画家彼得·克拉斯 于1627年完成的这幅油画描绘出一桌盛宴,而孔雀派是其中绝对的主角。孔雀派周围还堆满了其他昂贵的进口食物与餐具。这里描绘的并不是一桌真实的饭菜。将各种餐食器具集于一幕,只是为了显示这幅画的买主所拥有的财富。

卡拉·霍尔:
一切都是为了向客人或者说观者显示自己的身份和立场。在1627年,为了按自己的心意显露财富,您需要雇一名画家上门作画。   如今我们更倾向于在社交媒体上炫富。这幅画完成得极其优美。

我叫卡拉·霍尔。我是一名厨师。可能有不少人知道我以前参加过《顶尖主厨大对决》这个节目。我喜爱一切富于创意的事物。

讲解员:
孔雀派的下方有个金色的盐罐,还有一盘零碎糖果。

卡拉·霍尔:
盐在当时很珍贵。糖也不便宜。糖果和酥皮都显示出精湛的厨艺,由此可知主人在厨房雇了一些技艺高超的帮手,合力完成了这桌餐食。  

讲解员:
糖可能是从美洲或加勒比海种植园运来荷兰,而橄榄和白葡萄酒则可能来自地中海。青花瓷的碗可能来自中国,价格不菲。所以这幅画间接体现了当年荷兰帝国在贸易方面的繁荣强盛,也表明悬挂这幅画的家庭所持有的财富与愿景。

卡拉·霍尔为孔雀派完美焦化的酥皮而倾倒。顶上那只被填得鼓鼓的孔雀又在华丽地宣告着怎样的内里呢?

卡拉·霍尔:
这里的孔雀显然不能吃。放到今天,我觉得可以类比为一只汉堡,上面摆着24克拉黄金。它不能吃,金子尝起来不可能美味,纯粹为了炫富,表明买主有能力支付这样的高价。  

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