Market Stall

[Frans Snyders, oil on canvas 1614] A young stag suspended by both hocks, dead tongue lolling, brick-red, from the corner of its mouth. A pair of rabbits slung across the board. A pheasant and a string of songbirds, silent. Even the white swan, its long neck graceful and its wing unfurled, is not immune from Saturday display. A cauliflower. A wicker basket overflowing grapes and apples that will never ripen to a fuller red. A squash and two melons plucked from their vines. How many heavenly mouthfuls, thinks the poor man who feasts on porridge. But for such a man with famished pockets, our Flemish master didn’t paint this scene.