It takes a split second these days to create an image, and how many millions are recorded daily on mobile phones, possibly never to be looked at again? You can see it all happening in the palatial surroundings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, definitely one of those tick-off destinations on many travellers' bucket lists, where those in search of instant pictorial satisfaction throng the imposing statue-lined staircase for a selfie or pout for a photo in the café under the spectacular cupola. But we're not in Vienna for a quick fix, we're at the KHM to admire something more enduring in the shape of art produced almost 500 years ago by Rembrandt and his pupil Samuel van Hoogstraten that was intended to mislead your eyes into seeing the real in the unreal. Artistic deception is the story at the centre of Rembrandt--Hoogstraten: Colour and Illusion , one of the most engrossing and best-staged exhibitions we've seen this year. And, somewhat surprisingly, a show wi...
So, fancy popping out for a drink at the caupona this evening? Or shall we stay in instead? Ask the neighbours round for a nice krater of Falernian wine, and get the slaves to whip up some of your favourite dishes? Glires for starters....
In Last Supper in Pompeii, at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, we find out how food and drink wasn't just a Roman love affair, it was a matter of life and death, and the afterlife too. Because, however advanced and sophisticated the Romans may have been in many respects, life expectancy was still short, and the grim reaper could be along to fetch you off in the morning.
That's why this grinning skeleton embellished a mosaic floor panel in the dining room of a house in Pompeii, the Roman city that exemplifies the here-today-gone-tomorrow nature of life, buried as it was by volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius exploded in 79 AD.
But even as death walks towards you as you recline on your couch, he's got a wine jug in each hand.... So carpe diem -- seize the day -- and enjoy the banquet while you can. Eat, drink and be merry!
Dining was a very social affair for the Romans, and the word for a dinner party or banquet was convivium -- living or being together. "Make yourselves comfortable -- I am going to sing," says a female guest at the dinner depicted in this fresco from Pompeii. "Go for it!" is the enthusiastic response from a fellow diner.
Pompeii's destruction meant, paradoxically, the preservation not only of interior decor from homes in the city, but also of evidence of what the locals ate, in the form of foodstuffs that were carbonised when Vesuvius erupted. This thoroughly absorbing show at the Ashmolean is full of insights into the role of food and drink in the Roman world, with many objects ranging from the everyday to the spectacular making their way to Oxford from the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
We find out how Roman eating and dining habits developed, influenced by the Greeks but also the pre-Roman peoples of Italy, such as the Etrurians and Lucanians. Archaeologists in Paestum, 70 kilometres south of Pompeii, discovered house-shaped tombs covered with paintings depicting food and drink. And in a woman's tomb dating from 360 BC they found these terracotta models of food for the afterlife, including pomegranates, figs, almonds, bread rolls and ricotta.
There's plenty more to get your teeth into in this satisfying buffet banquet of a show. Now, anyone for a second dormouse?
Fresco wall panel showing a dinner party with painted messages: FACITE VOBIS SUAVITER EGO CANTO and EST ITA VALEAS (Make yourselves comfortable -- I am going to sing; Go for it!) 40–79 AD, Pompeii, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
Terracotta votive food: pomegranates (open and closed); grapes; figs; almonds; cheeses; focaccia; honeycomb; mould; long bread, 360 BC, Parco Archeologico di Paestum
Polychrome mosaic emblema (panel) showing fish and sea creatures, 100–1 BC, Pompeii, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
Terracotta dormouse jar (glirarium), 1-79 AD, Bay of Naples area, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
Still-life wall-panel fresco showing a rabbit nibbling at figs, AD 40-79, Pompeii, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
In Last Supper in Pompeii, at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, we find out how food and drink wasn't just a Roman love affair, it was a matter of life and death, and the afterlife too. Because, however advanced and sophisticated the Romans may have been in many respects, life expectancy was still short, and the grim reaper could be along to fetch you off in the morning.
That's why this grinning skeleton embellished a mosaic floor panel in the dining room of a house in Pompeii, the Roman city that exemplifies the here-today-gone-tomorrow nature of life, buried as it was by volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius exploded in 79 AD.
Pompeii's destruction meant, paradoxically, the preservation not only of interior decor from homes in the city, but also of evidence of what the locals ate, in the form of foodstuffs that were carbonised when Vesuvius erupted. This thoroughly absorbing show at the Ashmolean is full of insights into the role of food and drink in the Roman world, with many objects ranging from the everyday to the spectacular making their way to Oxford from the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
We find out how Roman eating and dining habits developed, influenced by the Greeks but also the pre-Roman peoples of Italy, such as the Etrurians and Lucanians. Archaeologists in Paestum, 70 kilometres south of Pompeii, discovered house-shaped tombs covered with paintings depicting food and drink. And in a woman's tomb dating from 360 BC they found these terracotta models of food for the afterlife, including pomegranates, figs, almonds, bread rolls and ricotta.
Pompeii was perfectly positioned to ensure a reliable supply of the finest food and drink. The mild climate and fertile volcanic soil of the Bay of Naples meant fruit and vegetables, olives and grapes thrived. Wheat tended to be imported from Africa, but the area around Pompeii was known for its wine, which was produced in huge quantities.
And then there was fish from the sea. This mosaic, made using very small tiles, depicts more than 20 different marine creatures. It would have been extremely expensive to make, and would have formed a conversation piece over dinner, perhaps with guests competing to identify as many varieties of seafood as possible.
The opulence of the dining room wouldn't have been matched by the kitchen, where your dinner would have been prepared by slave labour.
Glires -- dormice -- were a Roman favourite. They would be kept in the dark in a lidded jar like this, with ledges for them to run around, and supplied with acorns and chestnuts so they would fatten up as if ready for hibernation. When plump, they would be ready for roasting, perhaps with a seasoning of honey and poppy seeds.
And, in case you were wondering, Roman dormice were apparently bigger than ours....
A nice artistic conceit was to depict a live animal eating something it would be cooked with. One fresco in the exhibition shows a cockerel eating pomegranates. This one has rabbit and figs on the menu....
Practicalities
Last Supper in Pompeii continues at the Ashmolean until January 12 and is open from 1000 to 1700 daily. Full-price tickets are £12.25 and can be bought online here. There's a direct train every half an hour from London Paddington to Oxford, taking an hour, and the museum is less than 15 minutes' walk from Oxford station.Images
Monochrome mosaic panel of a skeleton holding two wine jugs, 1–50 AD, Pompeii, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di NapoliFresco wall panel showing a dinner party with painted messages: FACITE VOBIS SUAVITER EGO CANTO and EST ITA VALEAS (Make yourselves comfortable -- I am going to sing; Go for it!) 40–79 AD, Pompeii, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
Terracotta votive food: pomegranates (open and closed); grapes; figs; almonds; cheeses; focaccia; honeycomb; mould; long bread, 360 BC, Parco Archeologico di Paestum
Polychrome mosaic emblema (panel) showing fish and sea creatures, 100–1 BC, Pompeii, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
Terracotta dormouse jar (glirarium), 1-79 AD, Bay of Naples area, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
Still-life wall-panel fresco showing a rabbit nibbling at figs, AD 40-79, Pompeii, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
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