The book is part of a series created by the Italian publishing house Mondadori in 2006. Structured in five parts: food in the figurative context, from allegory to still life, the places and rituals of dinning, food and drink, the dining table and its furnishings; the book covers the vast subject of food and dinning in Europe.
The opening for each chapter concisely presents the subject and main characteristics. Just like any good art catalogue you have the author and title of the work, date or period of creation and the current location. Each work of art gets a page of it’s own making it easy to follow the information and to compare how same subject has evolved or is treated in a different age and part of the world. What is the most unique and useful feature is that indicative lines draw attention and detail parts of the work, giving anthropological, esthetic, or semiotic meaning. For each subject (eg. Dinner, crustaceans, silverware) the author offers scholar/livresque sources, the meaning of the subjects connotations in art and information about the iconography regarding the particular subjects.
Although all references made are exclusively of European origin works of art these are very divers raging from Dutch 17 or 18th century paintings to roman mosaics to paintings, from Umberto Boccioni and to basso-relief details.
At times the book is a bit too expedite or repetitive. For instance there is an annoying repetition regarding bread as an Eucharistic symbol. This nutrient appears in numerous pictures and at least 10 time the author feel the need to remind us that ``The bread is an allusion to the Eucharist``. ?!
Besides, maybe, being overly concerned with European Christian symbols the book is a great source of information for artists, cooks, event managers anyone interested in art or food. Only reading it you will find out that:
• the Romans had mosaics on the floor that would mimic of upsweep floors after a banquet, called riparographia
• the painter Tintoretto has a Last supper painting that contains a dish that resembles a lot a chocolate birthday cake with lid candles
• Saint Brigid of Ireland is also known for turning water into … beer
and all sort of interesting facts about food or history of European art.
