Eve's apple to the Last Supper : picturing food in the Bible
Bibliographic Information
Eve's apple to the Last Supper : picturing food in the Bible
C.M. Kauffmann
Boydell Press, 2017
Available at / 1 libraries
Note
Summary: There are a huge number of works of art which represent Biblical scenes, and even though only a handful of such pictorial representations show meals or cookery, it is an intriguing visual topic. This splendidly illustrated book deals with about twenty episodes which are relatively frequently chose as subjects by painters. The emphasis is on the social aspects of eating and discusses both the figures in such scenes, their postures and gestures, and the moral lessons of the text. The actual food is relatively sparsely shown but is nonetheless culturally interesting. The text provides both a detailed commentary on the images themselves and the broader context from which they derive
Bibliography: p. 165
Includes indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
A richly illustrated examination of food in the Bible, concentrating on the social aspects of eating.
Why do we think it was an apple that Eve offered to Adam? In fact the Bible tells us nothing of the kind, yet apples figure in the illustrations.
Out of literally hundreds of meals mentioned in the Bible, only relatively fewwere ever illustrated. This book discusses the most frequently illustrated scenes, covering the thirteen centuries from Roman catacomb paintings and sarcophagus reliefs to Rembrandt and Poussin. Many of the subjects discussed willbe widely familiar, others, such as the meals of Ruth and of the Parables, perhaps less so. Close attention is paid to the biblical text and its coverage in the illustrations. In rare instances the images have no source in the text. The popular scene of Joseph cooking for the infant Jesus, for example, is never mentioned. It is known only from biblical commentaries and from the extant illustrations.
The book contains some 160 colour images illustrating the twenty-two meals discussed. It will provide food for thought for readers interested in the study of the Bible and biblical commentaries, the history of meals and food, and the history of art.
C.M. KAUFFMANN was Keeper of Prints & Drawings and Paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum and then Director of the Courtauld Institute and Professor of the History of Art, University of London. Among his publications are catalogues of paintingsat the V & A and the Wellington Museum and also books and articles on medieval art, including Romanesque Manuscripts (1066-1190) and Biblical Imagery in Medieval England 700-1550.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
The basic features: Bread, Wine, Fish
- and Table Fellowship
The Old Testament
The New Testament
Contexts & Conclusions
The Broader Context
Gluttony and Abstinence
Bibliography
by "Nielsen BookData"