The Cook and His Wife
1497
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1497
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A husband in a striped cap stands at a table. His wife in a white headdress clutches a purse and key. A plucked bird sits on her hand. She looks guilty. The room has pots, bread, and a knife. This isn’t just a kitchen scene. The wife ate an eel saved for dinner. The bird saw her. She punished it by plucking its feathers. The bird now squawks about the lie. Look for the same sharp storytelling in Dürer’s engravings.
![Madonna and Child [obverse]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/d7b8ebf05d22ebe5/thumb.webp)
![Lot and His Daughters [reverse]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/b4ebf9b282faa17a/thumb.webp)
