Farther afield.(still lifes exhibits Cold War Modern: Design 1945-1970 and The Magic of Things: Still-Life Painting)

In The Marriage of Cadnus X and Harmony (1988), the Italian waiter and publisher Roberto Calasso proposed, "For centurics people have spoken of the Greek myths as something to be rediscovered, reawoken. The truth is, it is the rnyths that are still out there waiting to wake us and be seen by us, like a tree waiting to greet our newly opened eyes."

The same might also be said of a Dutch still life, ready to reveal its hidden meanings--or even of an astronaut's suit. How does a story or an object ascend from the particular to the iconic? Two European exhibitions on view this December invite this oft-revisited, perennially relevant question.

Northern still lifes

A cornucopia of succulent apricots, peaches, plums, and berries; floral bouquets seemingly thick with scent; elegant, wine-filled glasses--these and other delicious feats of artistic virtuosity abound in the ninety-odd northern. European still-life paintings assembled for' The Magic of Things: Still-Life Painting 1500-1800 at the Kunstmuseum Basel (first shown at the Stadel Museum in Frankfurt this past spring)

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The pictures, from the formidable collections of the Kunstmuseum Basel and the Stadel in addition to the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, are dazzling. They are also packed with factual information for collectors and cultural historians and yet nuanced with layers of symbol- ism. The challenge, and fun, is to decipher how detail, artistic license, and metaphoric intent intertwine.

At first glance, A Meal with Egg by Candlelight by Gottfried von Wedig (shown below) portrays a simple but appetizing snack of a soft-boiled egg and toast strips served with salt and a hefty portion of white wine. The luxuri-ousness of the tableware belies the humbleness of the food. A wealthy burgher rather than a peasant would have owned the bone and silver handled knife; the prunt encrusted pale green Rocmer; the handsome pewter-mounted Werraware wine jug; the pewter- or silver-hinged covered salt; the octagonal egg cup; and the baluster-stemmed candlestick.