Panel: Kitchen Scene

№ inv.: CE1/00525

This kitchen panel is similar to those depicted in CE1/00803 and CE1/100804. This exceptional piece depicts a family in what looks like a kitchen. Gathered around the table in the centre are three women, two men and a child. There are many items hanging on the back wall, such as an oil lamp, jugs, bellows, strings of garlic and a skinned sheep. A short poem explains each person’s task as well as the date the piece was created:

“El que mire este Pais / advierta prudente y Cuerdo / que D. ° Joseph está leyendo / su muger está Cosiendo / Sebastian está mirando / Mriquita trabajando / Eleuterio como niño / a pelota está Jugando / y Anica con su estropajo / los platos está fregando. Año 1789” (“He who looks at this Country / sensible and sane will see / that Mr. Joseph is reading / his wife is sewing / Sebastian is watching / Mariquita is working / Eleuterio as a child / is playing with a ball / and Anica is washing the dishes / with a scourer. Year 1789”).

Apart from indicating the exact date on which the piece was produced, the panel also provides a great deal of information about both male and female clothing, the dishes and kitchen utensils and the traditions and customs of daily life, such as the delegation and organisation of chores between men and women.

On display in the courtyard, first floor.