Tastes and temptations

About this book

"Fruits and vegetables as erotic metaphors in still life paintings, the Florentine Baptistery replicated in sausage and cheese by Andrea del Sarto, an Ovidian scene found at the bottom of a soup bowl - these wonders are unveiled in this beautifully illustrated, compellingly readable book about the little-examined interplay between art and cuisine during the Italian Renaissance. Exploring a dazzling array of artworks and drawing from period recipes and menus, John Varriano considers the many, often surprising ways that cooks and artists converged and drew from one another's worlds. He examines the significance of culinary images in Renaissance art, traces parallels in the use of eggs and oil in kitchens and in studios, looks at the emergence of the celebrity cook and celebrity painter, and much more. Woven throughout with the flavors and colors of the era, this feast for the mind and eye expands our understanding of the traditional boundaries of creative expression."--Jacket.