'It tastes better than it looks'
My week 40 of WolfCrawl
On the table this week
‘But Thomas, he whispers, I want it all’
The Altarpiece in Ghent
You can rely on Eustache
If one thing is certain in the trilogy, it's that there will be something good to eat when Eustache turns up at Cromwell's house. No matter what they have to talk about, it never affects either of their appetites. The menu of their dinner: a thick ragout of mutton, an ox-tongue pie heavy with mace and a capon. The flesh of the ragout is cubed and settled in red wine, the sauce thickened with bread crumbs flavoured with sage. To Eustache's relief, it tastes better than it looks.
When Cromwell meets his daughter for the first time, he offers her wine, wafers and spices, raisins and an apple still not knowing who she is. This suggests that Cromwell was quite hospitable and had a few snacks served to you when you visited him.
Sweetmeats and Dried Fruit on a Table by Tomás Hiepes, c. 1600-1635
More culinary references from this week:
Aske getting prime beef and claret;
Grain is short in Calais and herring go four a penny;
Gregory joking about throwing buns to the populace with Jenneke on a golden chariot when Cromwell is king;
Chapuys longing for the melons and cucumber of Egypt;
The friends of More sending him dinner to the Tower;
The trade goods in Antwerp: cure fish, pepper, ginger, aniseed and cumin, saffron and rice, alomond and figs‘But Thomas, he whispers, I want it all’
Cromwell was able to prevent Henry from going on a spending spree, but he's now facing a new threat: I've had a look round the Kunsthistorisches Museum's Kunstkammer in Vienna and put together a few particularly beautiful pieces for Henry. I only need to show Henry a few pieces and he buys all the boxes I bring to court without looking. No discount, payment immediately.
As a starter this beautiful cup. The strong and sweet Malvasia tastes twice as good to Henry in this cup. Lidded Cup, c. 1420-1430
For cold and hot drinks (the hot ones stay nice and warm as the cup has a lid) Lidded Cup, so-called ‘Merkur Becher’, around 1560
A cool beer in a drinking horn fit for a king. And how can an English king resist this drinking horn: DRAGON Alarm! St George… Drinking horn of Count Ulrich IX. Montfort-Tettnang in the shape of a dragon by Cornelius Groß, c. 1560/170
Cromwell can forget about building a navy if I come with one of my ships to Henry. These are the ships that Henry wants. You can negotiate with me about the flag with the Habsburg double-headed eagle. Although when I think about it, no, you can't. Henry would also take this ship with the banner of the Pilgrimage of Grace, he looks at it so greedily. Centrepiece for a table in the shape of a ship by Hans Schlottheim, 1585
Did I mention that the ship can sail along the table while the sailors beat the drums? The cannon fire? (on the video at 2:10) Henry will pay any price for this.
The Altar Piece in Ghent
Anselma and Thomas visited St John the Baptist Church in Ghent and saw the magnificent altarpiece by Jan van Ecyk (they probably didn't study it in detail, they were too busy with themselves).
This week was also about precious fabrics, the cardinal's hat for Pole and gloves embroidered with precious stones: Examples of this can be seen in the depiction of the clergy on the altarpiece.
Details Altar Piece The Adoration of the Lamb by Jan van Ecyk, 1432
Brilliant. That alterpiece needs to adorn my revised post next year. I was remiss in not including it. Great post!
That ship is AMAZING and I fully support your campaign to bring Thurston home where he belongs!