The Kitchen

Vincenzo Campi

Download hi-res image TITLE The Kitchen
AUTHOR Vincenzo Campi
DATE 1590 - 1
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS cm 145 x 220
INVENTORY 476
ROOM XV
Work on display

Young girls, old women, men and children are all bustling about in the kitchen. Probably an allegory of Fire, the Kitchen is the closest of the four painted scenes to the Flemish fashion for interiors with which Vincenzo had become acquainted at the court of Parma. The butchered ox and the child whose features are distorted by the effort of blowing into the beast’s bladder are examples of a taste for the grotesque inspired by Leonardo’s studies of expression.

Labels by famous authors

“Polished pans, gleaming eggs, snow-bright grated cheese. Sweaty foreheads, sparkling linen. The light bounces our eyes busily through the bustle. Light works hard, like the cooks, like the painter, transforming cheerful chaos into soothing order. A cool green arbour floats behind, the serene tablecloth waits for feathers, entrails, blood to be magicked into feast, the crisp pie-crusts golden as dusk outside. ”
Lisa Hilton

Download hi-res image TITLE The Kitchen
AUTHOR Vincenzo Campi
DATE 1590 - 1
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS cm 145 x 220
INVENTORY 476
ROOM XV
Work on display