Februari: Kok met een pastei 1645

Curator: Theodor Matham's "Februari: Kok met een pastei," an engraving from 1645, portrays a cook holding a pie. I find it fascinating how it captures a scene of everyday life, yet there's something unsettling about the abundance on display. What catches your eye? Editor: It’s the texture created by the engraving itself. All those tiny lines build up to create a really striking sense of depth. And there's so much meat! What was the function of this image? Was it just a study of a cook? Curator: Far from it. Think about the material circumstances. Engravings were reproducible; they were a form of visual currency in the 17th century. This image, circulated as part of a calendar series, spoke to the material excesses of February – a prelude to Lent, a time of religious restriction. The cook, framed by readily available victuals, becomes a symbol of excess. Editor: So the availability and relatively cheap price of engraving technology made this commentary on class and consumerism accessible to the masses? Curator: Exactly. Consider the labour involved in food preparation then and how the means of production and the access to such abundance are presented here, creating social commentary accessible to all levels of society. How the material circumstances of its production and consumption shaped its message. The lines of the engraving give us information not only about the chef and the scene, but of social position and accessibility to food goods. Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way. It makes me wonder what other hidden meanings are embedded in everyday materials! Curator: Precisely. Focusing on the material aspects encourages us to ask how such images not only reflect their time but actively shaped perceptions and attitudes towards class, consumption and labor.