Journalists and commentators fortunate sufficient to be invited to previews of two main exhibitions earlier this month—Vermeer on the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (till 4 June) and Donatello on the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A, till 11 June) in London—had been handled to 2 celebratory launch meals. “Sadly for our waistlines the Vermeer lunch and Donatello dinner had been each on the identical day,” mentioned a country-hopping attendee lucky sufficient to pattern each feasts. To not be outdone by the jaw-dropping artwork on show in each venues, the cooks excelled themselves. On the Rijksmusem, the meal kicked off with Woman with a Pearl Earring, oyster lime, an beautiful and shocking concoction (just a little creative licence goes a great distance). To not be outdone, the V&A dinner served up a ball of gray marble (hiding a chocolate mousse centre). “We left feeling decidedly Rubensian,” provides the person who scoffed up each dinners—within the identify of artwork and delicacies, naturally.
