Annibale Carracci, the Anti-Mannerist, and Sangiovese Wines.

The Bean Eater by Annibale Carrachi, 1583-1585.

The table above is not filled with fine glassware or flatware. There is no glint of silver here and there. Nor is the food being consumed anything but the most ordinary – beans, in fact. The items on the table are rather non-descript, bread, wine, and the main course, those beans. While one may not be able to place the clothing in time, it is certain that this is the garb of a working man, someone with his sleeves rolled up. His crumpled hat was obviously meant to protect his head, though his face shows the ruddiness of hours in the sun. His thick wrist and heavy fingered hands, complete with dirt under his nails, indicate a sturdy body accustomed to working the fields. He looks up in the direction of the viewers as if he suddenly notices us, so suddenly that he tilts his next mouthful of beans so that some of the juices fall from the spoon back toward the bowl. It is almost like a snapshot captured in paint rather than by a photograph.

I have a question for you, just for the sake of comparison. Look at the dates for The Bean Eater, and tell me if you think it looks like the painting of the 1500s? Probably the first answer would be, “No.” The paintings of that time were all of Bible stories, crucifixions, and saints. Or perhaps in your museum visits, you have seen portraits of various kings, queens, and other notables in their stiff, but beautifully detailed finery. An example might be Bronzino’s representation of the key figures around Cosimo de Medici the First, Duke of Tuscany. The subjects of that type of painting were of times gone by or of levels of society far beyond that of the ordinary person. The easily recognizable activities of daily life seemed to be of no import. Then along came Annibale Carracci, and the art began to look different.

Boy Drinking by Annibale Carracci, 1582-1583 Hover over image to magnify.

In the painting here. a shop boy takes a break and guzzles down a glass of wine. The pose, if you can call it that, again is a snapshot in painting of a particular unguarded moment. The way the head is tilted back to show the inside of the nostrils and the eyes looking into the emptied glass to make sure to get every last drop, would not be one to write home about. However, it presents interesting angles, great possibilities for subtle color changes, and speaks of a gesture that everyone can recognize. Even the stain on the shirt fits in with the idea of a worker taking a short break. It is a painting of the everyday life of an ordinary person, yet done in a style that doesn’t look much like the 1500s. It broke the mold, and that was part of what made Carracci so famous.

Sebastian Smee in his recent article for the Washington Post, “This Simple Painting Revolutionized Art,” gives the credit to Annibale Carracci’s Boy Drinking as the painting that broke away from the style of the time, called Mannerism. It is a name created later that I argue does not do justice to a lot of the art of the period any more than Gothic (which suggests barbaric) does justice to the beauty of the art of the Middle Ages. (More on all that is to come.) However, the key thing here is that things changed, and the reasons for that change are quite interesting.

First let’s get some idea of who the principle player in this story was. The two portraits above, both self-portraits of the respective artists, are perfect representations of both the men and their times. On the left is Agostino Carracci, the slightly older brother of Annibale (Agostino, 1557-1602 and Annibale 1560-1609). While both brothers and their cousin Ludovico worked on projects together, Agostino shows himself in the formal manner, appropriate for a painter and poet who worked for the upper echelons of society. In this picture he represents himself, complete with ruffled collar and a garment with satiny sleeves, as a watchmaker, or a keeper of time, which in some ways is what a painter does by capturing the spirit of an age. Annibale, on the other hand, shows mostly his face and the burning light in his eyes, all emphasized by the cropped aspect of the painting and the dark browns of his non-descript cloak and floppy old hat. Simply put, with no artifice, you can tell by the portrait that the guy can paint. What more do you need to know?

Annibale Carracci is the most notable of the three Carracci’s who were painting at the time, and it is because of his move away from the stylized and highly intellectualized paintings of the Mannerist period that he is the most famous. The 16th century was the second part of the Renaissance and was much involved with pleasing royal patrons who used art to demonstrate their power and wealth in a time when things were in fact quite precarious.

A good idea of the rigors of court life in those dangerous times comes from a book called The Book of the Courtier by the man represented here in a painting by Raphael (c.1514). His name was Baldassare Castiglione. Castiglione was known as the supreme courtier, who created a special term, sprezzatura, to describe the way that a courtier should behave. The idea was to make any demand by the ruler (king, duke, prince, etc.) seem as though it could be done as easily as breathing air, regardless of the difficulty.

The result of all this intellectualized “refinement” in behavior had a definite effect on the art, producing art that was highly symbolic, dealing with classical rather than biblical themes, and which often went far ahead of where society in the 1500s actually was. One good example is the work of Giulio Romano, Raphael’s second-in-command, who in 1527 traveled to Mantua to paint the interior of the Palazzo di Te in huge almost cartoon-like figures of gods and goddesses cavorting through the many tales of their misdeeds. The feeling is one of walking through an animated movie or perhaps a graphic novel.

This movement away from art related to religion played into the hands of the Catholic Church that wanted to bring art back to realism and to art that could be easily understood through common culture and Church doctrine, as opposed to references to ancient, classical myths and legends. In a way, some of this had happened in Florence in the 1490s when the monk Savonarola had railed against the vanities and had people like Botticelli, famous for many paintings of classical themes, throwing some of his works into the bonfires. This time the move away from classical themes and intellectualized treatments of such fit in with the Counter-Reformation. The art became known as Baroque, and the emphasis was on realism and not on these “odd” artistic ideas like Romano’s caryatides that support the entrance to a court of justice in Mantua and look almost like figures from the Belle Epoch in the late 1800s.

Carracci’s focus on the ordinary and on realism fit right in with the mood of the times, which was to bring art back into something recognizable by the masses. Carracci, himself, seems to have been more interested in pursuing his craft as a painter than in gaining favor at any royal court. Even so, he painted his share of major works including the ceilings of the Farnese Palazzo in Rome. While he did do religious paintings, he ventured into areas that were to become more popular in the 1600s when Roman painting took a turn toward the landscape. (For more on that see the information on the show, “Rome: Nature and the Ideal, Landscapes 1600-1650” at the Prado in Madrid, museodelprado.es)

River Landscape by Annibale Carracci, c. 1590

Though there is a person on a raft in the middle of this painting, the focus is decidedly on the natural environment. In fact, the man on the raft is partially blocked by a great tree trunk. Carracci’s treatment of the trees and their leaves looks like a precursor to the painting of the 17th century’s Poussin and Claude Lorrain. Carracci’s desire to always improve his craft led him to go to Venice in the 1580s where he spent time in the home of Jacopo Bassano, a painter quite famous for, among other things, his paintings of dogs. Titian’s work was a great influence on Carracci as well, as was the work of the Florentine, Michelangelo.

However, Carracci was an innovator, developing a style of applying paint called broken brushwork, that allows for the rougher textured paint strokes to pick up the light. This innovative attitude may have been the result of his growing up in Bologna, the home of one of the oldest universities in Europe. Whatever the contributing elements were, the Carraccis (brothers and cousin) were among the most famous of the artists in the late 16th century, and along with Caravaggio moved art into a new period that allowed people to understand what they saw without having to be schooled in all of the appropriate classical references. I do still say that La Bella Maniera, a more appropriate name than Mannerism, had its fine points with the artists taking many of the works far ahead of the time in which they lived. However, that story is “TO BE CONTINUED…”

All paintings used in this article are in Public Domain.

Resources used are as follows:

“Great Works. The Bean Eater” by Tom Lubbock independent.co.uk

Heilbrun Timeline of History, “Annabale Carracci (1560-1609)” metmuseum.org

River Landscape artsy.net

“Rome: Nature and the Ideal Landscape 1600-1650” museodelprado.es

“This Simple Painting Revolutionized Art” by Sebastian Smee washingtonpost.com

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

The Blood of Jove – Sangiovese.

Sangiovese grapes from “Get to Know Sangiovese Wine” eataly.com

It is said that in ancient times, the Etruscans named this wine for the King of the Gods, Jove or Jupiter, as the later Romans would call him. The rich dark juice that comes from these grapes along with its strong, tannin-rich taste make the name of the grape quite appropriate. In many ways, it is the king of the Tuscan grapes, as it can be the sole grape used in a wine, as in Brunello di Montalcino. Brunello is a supreme Tuscan wine and the most important appellation. It has been called seductive, as it has the flavor of “cherries and chocolate” and aromas of “truffles and tobacco” (eataly.com). Or the grape can be blended to create a wine like the ever popular Chianti, the best of which is from the Chianti Classico Consortium, which produces high quality Chianti, marked with the Black Rooster label (see ofartandwine.com) to distinguish it from some of the more acidic, mass produced types.

Aerial view of the city of Bologna, Italy, home of the Carracci family of painters.

Bologna was the home of Annibale Carracci and the city to which he brought fame by his innovated painting style. Bologna and the nearby town of Modena are famous for the wines they produce, many of which include Sangiovese grapes. The area of Italy where they are located is known as Romagna or sometimes as Emilia-Romagna. The countryside surrounding the area and the Sangiovese wines produced here are said to be as “rough, honest and frank” as the inhabitants of the area (travelemiliaromagna.it). That direct, honest characteristic can certainly be seen in the work of Annabale Carracci, just think of The Bean Eater. Modena produces a ruby-red wine that is mainly made from Sangiovese grapes. It is dry and well balanced and known for its beautiful purple reflections.

While the Sangiovese grape seems to have originated in Tuscany, the locals in and around Bologna claim it was born in the village of Santarcangelo di Romagna. Everybody loves to claim a good thing, right? No matter where it originated, it has become one of winemakers favorite grapes, as it blends so well with other grapes and can produce a wide variety of tastes based upon the climate, the terroir, and the winemaking process. This versatility has lead to the creation of wines referred to as Super Tuscans. They are made in non-traditional ways, including blending with other varieties such as cabernet, merlot, and syrah, and being aged in small French oak casques.

Sangiovese wine and anything with tomato. Photo credit and recipes justwines.com.au

The picture above says it all. Sangiovese wines go very well with meat dishes, and pastas with tomato sauces, like the famous Bolognese sauce. Grilled steak goes very well with the wine, but also grilled vegetables have their taste enhanced by the flavor of Sangiovese. The wine also works with the flavors of herbs like oregano, dill, thyme, and basil. A great cheese to serve with Sangiovese wine is Aged Asiago or Aged Pecorino Toscano. The wines are meant to be drunk fairly soon, so do not keep an unopened bottle more than about three years, though some versions that are mixed with cabernet, malbec or merlot can last five-to-seven years. Serve the wine at 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit. Any glass will do, as there is little aroma. Then you are good to go.

Don’t miss this wonderful wine. Try it the next time you fire up the grill for meat dishes and grilled veggies or when you are in the mood for a meaty pasta dish. Enjoy it like Carracci’s Bean Eater dug into his hearty meal, and toast both Tuscany and Romagna for their contribution to the world of wine.

Photo from thespruceeats.com “What is Sangiovese Wine?”

Information gathered on Sangiovese wine comes from the linked websites in the paragraphs above.

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and   CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2021

Coming Soon: The Avant Garde of La Bella Maniera and Wines of Romagna.

Detail from Fall of the Titans by Giulio Romano, c. 1531 in the Palazzo di Te, Mantua, Italy. artsandculture.google.com

Yes, this was done in the early 1500s. It looks like a modern graphic novel illustration of a classical story, but no, it was done by Giulio Romano for his patron Federico Gonzaga of Mantua to decorate his pleasure palace the Palazzo di Te. This rather modern looking illustration of a scene is just one example of how Mannerism, also called La Bella Maniera, allowed artists the freedom to go where their imaginations and their art would take them and thus became a real avant-garde movement before the term was ever coined.

Art History C.S.I.: What Happened to Nefertiti’s Eye? Plus Wine Among the Ancients.

Among the mysteries of Ancient Egypt, the Amarna period particularly captures the imagination. Whether it is deciphering Akhenaten’s strangely shaped statues (physical deformity, religious symbolism, or artistic innovation?) and who the heck was Smenkhkare, or figuring out who killed King Tut’s mother and was she Nefertiti or Kiya, the questions around Nefertiti’s missing eye seem rather small. Yet among Egyptologists, whether professional or lay, even seemingly minor things can become full-blown controversies. Egyptologist, Dr. Kara Cooney, laughingly said in one of her youtube online conversations that at any gathering of Egyptologists, the mention of anything about Nefertiti is a good way to start a bar fight. While Of Art and Wine does not suggest that you throw a glass of glorious Pinot Noir at anyone, let’s dare to dive into the ancient queen’s business.

Bust of Nefertiti, c. 1340 B.C.E. Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany. Hover over image to magnify.

First of all, there is no word for queen in Ancient Egyptian. What we call a queen, they referred to as the Great Royal Wife, and Nefertiti is thought to have been even more than a wife. Some think she was a co-ruler with her husband, Akhenaten. He ruled Egypt from 1353 to 1336 BCE and took Egypt toward the worship of one god, Aten, a solar deity. This deed was so hated that he has been forever labeled a heretic, and much of his legacy was obliterated in ancient times. It is often been suggested that the odd look of some of the statuary comes from an attempt to mix the male and female elements of the sun god, Aten, into the form of the Pharaoh, who was his chief representative on earth. Others, especially African-Americans, look at that face and find recognizable features seen within that population. As has been said, the controversies are many. (For more on the sculptural style of that period, see the article “Akhenaten: Strange-looking King or Sassy Sculptor?” at yisela.medium.com)

Statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten yisela.medium.com

Akhenaten changed more that just the style of worship. He changed how the country was structured. Rather than have the usual north/south split, with the royal family and court in Thebes (ancient Waset) in the south and the administration in the northern city of Memphis (Inebu-hedj or The White Walls), he had both the court and the administration at his new capital, Akhetaten, thus centralizing the government. This becomes an important fact when looking at the location of the home and workshop of Thutmose, the Royal Sculptor, whose workshop produced many of the existing statues of that period, including the one of Nefertiti with the missing eye.

Thutmose was no piker. The compound where he lived and worked was very near to the North Palace where the royals lived. It contained the artist’s rather spacious home, a large workshop where he worked with his assistants, a “pantry” where various models were kept – a sort of reference library of sculpture, and a stable which included his very own chariot (a gift from Pharaoh?). His close association and location near to the royal court was the source of royal commissions and the source of his wealth. Though Thutmose’ tomb in Sakkara shows him as a painter with a palette given him by Pharaoh Amenhotep III, it is clear from the work that he did for Akhentaten that his abilities as a sculptor were much in demand. And of course, those sculptures were often painted as the beautifully done bust of Nefertiti is.

The bust of Nefertiti that is now in the Neues Museum in Berlin was found by German archeologist, Ludwig Borchardt, in 1912 and left Egypt under not quite legal circumstances. A lax French official (the French not the Egyptians controlled the archeological concession at the time) did not inspect each box, allowing the statue to leave the country unnoticed. This has set up the current dispute between Egypt and Germany about who should have possession of that statue. It was with the discovery of the statue that the theories about the missing eye began.

THEORY #1: THE EYE POPPED OUT WHEN THE STATUE FELL OFF A SHELF.

Borchardt had found the statue in Thutmose’ pantry along with a number of other items, some unfinished and some deliberately smashed (Akhenaten’s images in particular). It was lying face down in the sand, and when picked up, the missing eye was immediately noticed. This brings up one of the theories about what might have happened. This theory says that the statue was on a shelf and in the disorder that followed the death of Akhenaten, a time when Thutmose moved his studio to Memphis, it fell off the shelf and the eye popped out. This idea had occurred to Borchardt, who thoroughly searched and shifted through the sands in an attempt to find the missing eye. However, none was found then, nor has one been found since. This may suggests that one had not yet been made for that sculpture, though that is problematic as the bust dates from either 1345 or 1340 BCE, which is a few years before the end of Akhenaten’s reign. There must be another reason why the eye is missing, especially since there are also no chisel marks indicating the eye was gouged out by those who defaced the other statues of the former royals once the regime had ended.

THEORY #2: NEFERTITI HAD AN OPTHALMIC INFECTION THAT OBLITERATED HER LEFT EYE.

Eye diseases were certainly not uncommon in Ancient Egypt. There are also lots of superstitions concerning the eye, from the fear of the evil eye to the power of the Eye of Horus, which was a protective symbol. (The god Horus lost his eye in battle, by the way.) The problem with this theory is that there are plenty of representations of Nefertiti with both eyes. As well, there are images of her with no eyes at all, just eyelids, but again this would be a matter of the stages of completion of the statue itself. Of importance here is royal decorum in which there were appropriate ways to show the royal family. Egyptologist, Joyce Tyldesley, gives the example of the images of Pharaoh Siptah of the 19th Dynasty, who was known to have had a twisted, crippled foot. All images of him, however, are shown with normal feet and legs, as was deemed appropriate when representing the pharaoh (Nefertiti’s Face, p. 62).

THEORY #3: THUTMOSE, THE REJECTED LOVER, TOOK HIS REVENGE OUT ON THE STATUE.

Here it seems that the heat of the desert must have taken its toll on the imagination. For like a mirage, the thought that this artisan whose very livelihood (and life) depended upon keeping the Pharaoh’s favor would hit on the queen, just evaporates the closer one looks at it.

THEORY #4: THE BUST WAS JUST ONE OF THE MANY STATUES THAT THUTMOSE’S ASSISTANTS PRACTICED ON.

Reality seems to have returned with the supposition that since this bust along with many others in various stages of completion was found in the pantry, which served as a type of repository of models, it was also a model that was used to teach the assistants how to install the eyes. The trouble with this, in my opinion, is that there is no trace of the beeswax glue that was used to cement eyes into statues. The eye itself would have been of rock crystal with the pupil painted in black, and of course, no such missing eye has ever been found. Though there are a couple of tiny areas where the black eyeliner is missing on the lower left eyelid, there is no indication of eyes being set and removed and then reset as would happen when workers practice doing something.

THEORIES #5 AND #6: MINE.

Joyce Tyldesley, at one point in her book admits that sometimes even the best Egyptologists give way to “unabashed speculation,” which is how she announces some of her theories about what happened in those days. So given that license to “speculate,” I think that this bust of Nefertiti was indeed a model, but one worked on by Thutmose himself as a way to perfect his ability to capture the image of the queen. It seems to me to have been so close to completion and too finely modeled and painted to have been something that he would allow his assistants to practice on. The xrays that show the sculpture underneath the lovely painted plaster finish, show a face that has more wrinkles, as well as a slighly bulbous tip to the nose. The painted bust had alterations done to the face underneath the plaster covering, so that we get a perfected realism. It still shows the indication of lines at the corners of the mouth and a bit under the eyes, but is done in a sort of ancient “airbrushing” technique to enhance the queen’s beauty. Once the artist had achieved his goals for how to represent the queen with reality but appropriate beauty, and with one eye already perfectly set, he had no need to set another eye. He just put the statue on a shelf and left it for future reference. (For more on what lies beneath the painted plaster, see this article from Scientific American, “The Hidden Face of Nefertiti.” scientificamerican.com)

Lastly, we have this statue of Nefertiti which is called the Striding Statue, as it is full length. It is dated from 1350 which is early in Akhenaten’s reign. How that date was determined, I do not know, but the statue itself seems to represent an older Nefertiti (see the black and white photo presented earlier which shows her face). She would have had some of her six children by 1350, but all six if this statue was from a later date. The full length version shows a woman with a sagging belly and a stoop in her shoulders that suggests advancing age. I mention this because dating of these works seems to vary a lot.

The Nefertiti bust is sometimes dated at 1345 BCE or perhaps 1340 BCE, but could it be as late as 1337? What if this standing statue is from a later part of the 17 year reign of Akhenaten as well, and thus showing the aging queen, perhaps not in the best of health. There is some evidence that Nefertiti, whose name changes a number of times, shows up again in Year 16 of Akhenaten’s reign, as the Great Royal Wife. There are white ushabtis, quickly done figures carved to provide extra servants to be placed in the tomb for someone who has already died, that have Nefertiti’s name on them and are marked Year 16. If the bust of Nefertiti was done around 1337 rather than 1340 BCE, could it be that it did not get finished because the queen died?

Well, regardless of these “unabashed speculations,” we do know that after the last few Amarnite rulers came and went, the whole project was shut down. The royals under Tutankhamun moved back to Thebes, and the administration went to Memphis. Thutmose moved to Memphis also, as it was the site where the commissions were given out for various pharaonic projects. He built his tomb nearby in Sakkara, a site favored by many former Amarna officials. The bust was left behind in his old digs in Akhetaten, along with many other figures, as there was no more need or desire for them.

What we are left with are speculations on mysteries inside of conundrums inside of enigmas. We look at the face of the queen and wonder about her, and what part she had to play in that religious revolution that failed. Who was she? We will never know, though Camille Paglia left us with a chilling thought when she wrote, “The proper response to the Nefertiti bust is fear.” The actual truth is but a whisper in the sand.

Sources for this post come largely from two of Joyce Tyldesley’s books on Nefertiti: Nefertiti, Egypt’s Sun Queen, 1999 and Nefertiti’s Face: The Creation of an Icon, 2018.

Scientific American article (linked above) “The Hidden Face of Nefertiti,” and the article, “Akhenaten: Strange-looking King or Sassy Sculptor” (also linked above.)

Artwork shown in this article is in public domain.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.comor her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

Wine Among the Ancients.

We know that wines have been around for a long time. They were created for a variety of reasons and used in a variety of ways. A little tour of the ancient world produces some interesting details.

ANCIENT EGYPT

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs for wine used to label wine jars.

The Ancient Egyptians may have started the business of crafting interesting wine labels. Emily Kate in the article, “How Ancient Egypt’s Wine Labels Rival Today’s” (grapecollective.com) details how their system of labeling worked. Egyptians, like those of many ancient cultures, mostly drank beer, and workers were even paid in beer. The upper echelons of society had their wine. Both drinks were solutions to the problem of drinking water that made people sick. Most of the grapes for local production were cultivated in the rich terrain found in the Nile Delta; however, much of the wine was imported from the near east.

As for the labels, they are sometimes ways to date the reigns of the pharaohs. For instance one of the signs that there was a pharaoh named Smenkhkare are the wine labels on jugs that come from the House of Smenkhkare, which announces the beginning of his reign, followed by the Funerary Wine of Smenkhkare, which is dated later during that same year. For more on their ancient drinks, I leave the link to a great video called The Pharaoh’s Liquid Gold about the creation of beer youtube.com

MESOPOTAMIA

We know that many of the cities and civilizations in this area of the Middle East go back for many thousands of years. Like the Ancient Egyptians, most of the common people drank beer. There is even a recipe given for beer in an ancient work called “The Hymn to Ninkasi.” Code de Vino’s official magazine website, gives Mesopotamia the credit for creating the world’s first wine culture. It is from there that the Egyptians imported much of their wine. King Tut had a number of wine jugs, many imported, in his tomb, showing that he intended to enjoy it in the afterlife as he had in his earthly life. Seemingly the grapes for these wines were grown in the area near the Straights of Hormuz in modern day Iran.

ANCIENT PERSIA (now Iran).

Bas Relief from ruins of ancient Persepolis – Iran (Persia). UNESCO World Heritage Site

A site in the Zagros mountains in Iran revealed wine jugs going back 7,000 years. The Shiraz grape which is grown throughout the world seems to be connected to the city of Shiraz and a famous wine produced in Iran since ancient times, called Shirazi. The first record of it is from 2,500 BCE. The poet Hafez immortalized this wine in his poetry in the 14th century, and in the 1680s, a French merchant, Jean Chardin, drank Shiraz wine in the court of Shah Abbas and wrote of its marvelous taste. The BBC Channel has a short documentary on The Secret Behind Iran’s Fabled Wine (Shiraz) youtube.com

THE ANCIENT GREEKS

Can’t mention the Persians without mentioning the Greeks, who are quite an inventive bunch. Along with developing Democracy, they did some interesting tricks with their wine. One of those was mixing sea water with wine. Yes, sea water! It seems that in just the right amounts, the salt in the sea water enhances the taste of the wine. This technique for improving the taste was passed on to the Romans, who often continued the practice. Wine has a 4,000 year old history in Greece, where it was used for both religious ceremonies and for “medicinal” purposes. The Greeks believed in the Delphic proscription of “nothing in excess” and applied it to their consumption of wine. It was considered barbaric in Ancient Greece to drink wine that was not mixed with water. The recipe was 1 part wine to 3 parts water.

THE ROMANS

Finally on our little tour, we come to the Romans, whose vast territory was ideal for the spread of viticulture. From the fertile valleys of Italy into France and Spain and even England, wherever the Romans settled, wine was sure to emerge. People in many of these areas had discovered how to make wine before their Roman overlords showed up; however, the trade routes of the Roman Empire enhanced the production greatly. In fact, we still drink the same varieties of wine that the Romans did in their day. Interesting detail: the wine that was popular with the Ancient Romans was a white wine called Falernum. It was allowed to age for 10-20 years, which turned it from white to a beautiful amber color.

While we talk of the certainties of human existence, like Death and Taxes, we can now say that Wines will always be with us as well.

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and   CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2021

COMING SOON: Annibale Carracci, the Anti-Mannerist, and Sangiovese Wines.

The Bean Eater by Annibale Carracci, 1585.

Annibale Carracci and his brother Agostino were two of the most famous painters in the 16th century. They worked in the style which we call Mannerism but which was known in at the time as La Bella Maniera (The Beautiful Manner) for emphasizing the finesse with which work was done. Even in this simple genre painting of a man having a meal, Annibale Carracci uses a technique of broken brush work to give the piece a polish that was much valued at the time. Notice also that even eating beans, this fellow has his glass of wine, and the area around Bologna produces wines made from Lambrusco. Trebbiano and Sangiovese grapes.

Exit mobile version