The Art of Cooking & Dining in Renaissance Italy
Dr. Sally J. Cornelison
What went on in Renaissance kitchens and how did people consume their meals before forks and individual place settings became common? What meanings did the paintings that decorated the walls of ecclesiastical dining halls—of which Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is the most famous—have for the monks, friars, and nuns who contemplated them as they dined? What foods were served at Medici and other courtly banquets and who produced the cleverly crafted sugar sculptures and elaborately folded napkins that adorned the tables at which they took place? Drawing from a rich body of images, printed texts such as papal chef Bartolommeo Scappi’s recipe book of 1570, and tableware made of glass, brightly painted ceramics, silver, and other prized materials, this course traces the history of the visual culture of cooking and dining in Italy from c. 1400 to 1600.
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LECTURE 1 "The Art of Cooking & Dining in the Italian Renaissance Home"
Dr. Sally Cornelison
Food and food-related c3ulture was as important in Italy during the Renaissance as it is today. Illustrated with images of kitchens and meals from late medieval manuscripts, prints, and paintings, as well as with a variety of Renaissance cooking, serving, and dining utensils...
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LECTURE 2 "Last Supper & Monastic Meals: The Art of the Italian Refectory"
Dr. Sally J. Cornelison
Although he painted it for the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in the northern Italian city of Milan, Leonardo’s Last Supper is deeply indebted to the longstanding Tuscan tradition of decorating ecclesiastical refectories with images from the life of Christ ...
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LECTURE 3 "Festive Feasts: The Art of Banqueting in Renaissance Italy"
Dr. Sally J. Cornelison
In Renaissance Italy, weddings, visits from foreign dignitaries, and other special occasions were marked with elaborate meals at which bustling servers presented guests with the finest foods and tables were outfitted with the most refined tableware. This lecture will brin...
