Food in Art: From Prehistory to Renaissance

(Hardback)

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Description

In this richly illustrated book, leading food historian Gillian Rileydemonstrates how works of art can provide us with detailed informationabout the preparation and preservation of food that is missing from thehistory books. Artists of all periods and in all places have portrayed thetools and environments of the gastronomic world of the drying, saltingor smoking of meat, fish or vegetables, for example and the enjoymentof eating, from the simplest peasant meals to the grandest banquets. Theseworks allow us, as twenty-first-century viewers, to appreciate the colours,imagine the smells and salivate over the recipes of the foods, kitchens anddishes of the past.

Reviews

"Food in Art shows how paintings teach us about everyday life after other evidence has vanished. Roman frescos and mosaics provide useful information about the use of humble utensils such as strainers, pots, and skillets, which, previously, archaeologists and historians tended to dismiss as 'possible rituals objects of uncertain use." -- "Country Life"
"A joyful and sumptuously illustrated ramble through visual feasts from the Stone Age to Renaissance Italy."
-- "Times Literary Supplement"
"Filtered through Riley's irreverent, witty, and ever-imaginative style, Food in Art is a guide through the sprawling past of art's many interpretations of food, from the divine to the profound, and crucially the dark, humorous, and absurd. From the practicality of ancient Egyptian illustrated breadmaking techniques to the strange vanity of Roman mosaic floors designed to look covered in the remnants of a lavish banquet, mice and all, Food in Art calls for some self-reflection." -- "Hackney Citizen"

Author Bio

Gillian Riley is a prominent food writer and an authority on the history of Italian cuisine. Her previous books include Impressionist Picnics (1993), A Feast for the Eyes (1998), The Oxford Companion to Italian Food (2007) and The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy (2012).