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John Liefrinck after Peter Brueghel the Elder
The Rich Kitchen
Theme: Everyday Life
1563
Flemish
Engraving
Purchase SOTA Print Fund, 1979 in honor of Anna Rodale (1979.11)
 
This print and its companion, The Poor Kitchen, were engraved after designs by Peter Brueghel the Elder. In the Rich Kitchen food is everywhere - abundant quantities of hams, sausages, pig's feet, pig's heads, cheeses and bread hang from the ceiling and sprawl over the table. A roaring fire burns in the hearth, where three pots simmer and a suckling pig is basted at the fire's edge. A scrawny man is being pushed out the door while a fat dog nips at his legs. He clearly is not welcome. The inscription at the bottom of the print translates: "Beat it Thinman, though you are hungry, you are wrong. This is Fat Kitchen here, and here you don't belong!"

The highly organized compositions of both prints do not focus our attention on a single event; rather they emphasize many events taking place simultaneously. Brueghel helps us absorb the entire scene by showing us the scenes from a high vantage point, as if we are looking down into the rooms.

Brueghel belonged to a circle of humanists who shared a belief in tolerance. They placed their faith in education, reason, and humor, three qualities present in these prints, to bring about the great virtue of tolerance.


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