When a Still-Life at the Met is a “Food You Need to Eat Before You Die”

So today we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art-one of my favorite New York Places from the time I was a little girl reading From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  Today was a great day to come as it was also the annual New York Marathon which runs right through Central Park.  Adam and Elena had a friend running and we were able to meet him at mile 24. Standing with all of the other watchers who were shouting encouragement was such a kick.  Those marathoners came in all shapes, colors, nationalities, ages and at mile 24 they all looked tired.  They also all seemed so appreciative of the shouts of encouragement.  I was glad to be one of those doing the shouting…

At the Met, Adam, Elena and I visited multiple rooms-the Egyptian and Modern Art sections were our big stops, but we were on the hunt for a tiny little Dutch still-life by the painter Jan Davidsz de Heem who lived from 1606-1683/84 in Antwerp. This particular painting is a tiny little thing is typical (so the sign said) of still life’s of the era-it had the typical glass, lemon peel and oysters and its size meant it was for one viewer who would have been able to enjoy it all by themselves.  Why were we looking for this painting in a room of Rembrandts?  Why a still life?  Well, my idol, Mimi Sheraton lists looking at this still life as an item to do in the 1000 Foods to Eat before You Die.  I might not be a fan of the still life but I was up for giving them another chance.  It does really capture how a plate of oysters would look.  I’ve watched enough on the cooking channel to know that plating is always important as we eat with ours as well as our mouths.  I checking this one off the list and I will try to have a greater appreciation of painted oysters.  I think we all agreed we are still keener on eating our oysters that seeing them at the Met.  I guess it doesn’t have to be an either/or situation…