“The Masque of the Red” (1693)
Find out what this famous 17th century painting holds in common with the Salem Witch trials and canned peaches.
“The Masque of the Red,” 1693.
The artist was raised in Massachusetts by a family of pharmacists. Her father, Einar, went to Viking school but failed the wood carving examination; and her mother, Asta, who was famed for creating music by rubbing leaves and twigs in unison, opened an apothecary in 1680, having arrived from the Dark World on a raft made of a giant conch one year prior.
The 15-year-old artist decided to utilise her inherent skills to paint a series of damning depictions of the Salem witch trials of 1692–1693. Grouped under the name “Which Witch is Which?” the featured painting, “The Masque of the Red,” is a coruscating condemnation of the terror that ripped through the community and beyond.
The artist commented that if it had not been for her mother making soothing sounds with a windpipe made of pine and maple, then the whole sorry episode would have been “a total bummer.”
Disgusted with the torment, the artist became a stowaway on a merchant ship heading for Iceland (until this point known as “Ratherchillywaterland”), where she raised reindeer and created ice, now commonly used in cocktails and the like.
The work
Astute viewers will note the religious symbolism. The violent, violet sky easing into blue as a message of hope to the bewildered populous. The stern maple tree, guarding, deathly black, but wait — green and symbolising life fighting through the dark shroud. Hope, pain, and the masque — the one that overwhelms us all.
The piece was placed in auction at Sotheby’s New York in June 2007. The painting was bought by Dolly Parton for $4m. However, the event itself has become more notable for the curious outburst by television personality Ryan Seacrest, who suddenly proclaimed mid-auction, “Peaches! Peaches! Will nobody bring me a can of damn peaches?”
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