easter.

[duccio]

Since many might be gathering with family and friends today for Easter, and sharing a big meal, I thought I would post some picture details of biblical tables as painted by the artist Duccio di Buoninsegna from his 1308 Siena Cathedral altarpiece Maestà.



Here in the first detail, The Wedding at Cana, the revelers are seen pouring out wine from pitchers into tumblers, the unlimited quantities of homemade wine provided by Jesus himself for the occasion. On the table, it looks like the fare is Buffalo Wings. On the plate there is still one wing available, some scraps of another, and some bones. Bowls of hot sauce are seen with wings sticking out. There also seem to be small dinner rolls like bagels, as well as bread sticks (French fries?) on the table. There is also a small dish of little white things; any ideas what they might be, anyone? Bones, perhaps?

Getting closer to the main event, we have a second detail, this from the Last Supper panel of Maestà. Here in the 'Upper Room', we see red wine in pitchers and tumblers again - a Gospel necessity for this particular meal. And there are the ever present bagel rolls and bread sticks/French fries, and a meat dish. The cooked animal looks like a piglet, but that is totally impossible (unmentionable even) so maybe it is a very small lamb, which would fit with the symbolism. (Maybe it is a bunny? Easter Bunny for dinner?) You can't see in the detail, but Jesus is in the act of breaking bread, but using his bagel. I guess each disciple will share in the ritual with his own bagel as a larger loaf is not present. There are some large and small bowls, maybe they are sauces, or finger bowls, or maybe discard bowls for the bones, etc, since they didn't seem to use plates in these gatherings. Perhaps the big bowl contains matzoh ball soup, but without spoons, the bowl would have been used communally, Japanese tea style - drunken, not spooned. The knives are curious utensils. They seem to be a knife married to a sort of spatula. I wonder if they were the mediæval precursors of the spork - kind of a dangerous idea. I'd have thought Jesus would have seen the folly in the use of such an implement. In any group of 13, some one or two using these things would be likely to get hurt.

Lastly, here is a detail of the table when Christ appeared to the disciples (now eleven of them) on or after Easter Sunday in the 'Upper Room' again. Tonight, we have Fish: a little Chi Rho/Ichthus menu. The bagels and wine are there again, but this time, the bagels have little crosses marked on the top, for ease in breaking I suppose, and, you know. You can see the handle end of one of those spatula knives way up on the left. There are what look like chips to go along with the fish; what do you think, Fish and Chips? And, red wine with fish... tsk. Symbolism trumps everything in religion.

So, there you have it. Happy Easter everybody.


Trump... heh! A bone caught in the throat.

Comments

[bellakara]

Fish and chips - that would just be the thing, wouldn't it?

The colours in those paintings are gorgeous.

[duccio]

I visited Siena long ago. I just by accident stumbled upon the Opera del Duomo, the museum connected to the Cathedral where the massive Maestá altarpiece is kept for display. I had never been interested in this type of work at all up until that point, and the color mastery of Duccio turned me all around, completely, that as well as the emotional content. No book comes close to his color beauty. These paintings are filled with thoughtful ideas to discover, take out and possess as one's own, and think about. 800 yo paintings.

[bellakara]

I ought to bang my head off a wall. Talk about not paying attention. Duccio! Is that who you're named in honour of? Somehow my eye skipped over the name.

I have quite a few art books, but there's one in particular that has thousands of years worth of art in it. The pages fold out to show paintings and details of paintings. The whole thing's in French. I found it at the local secondhand bookshop years ago.