| This conference analyzes the development of gastronomy and conviviality in Italy and France and the regions in between and/or bordering (Savoy, Grisons, Ticino, Belgium) from the times of Taillevent (Guillaume Tirel, 1310-1395) to the publication of the Cuisinier Français by François-Pierre de la Varenne (1651). The center of this scenario is occupied by extremely significant historical events such as the Council of Costanz (1417) and the composition of the schism, the rebirth of Rome as capital of the Catholic world, and the sack of Rome in 1527. The central figures are Francis I, Catherine De Medici, her son Henri III, Marie de Medici and her husband Henry IV. The crucial shift from Stoicism to Epicureanism as it emerges from writings of Lorenzo Valla, Platina (Bartolomeo Sacchi) and other humanists as well as from the actual cookbooks (Maestro Martino’s Libro de arte coquinaria; Bartolomeo Scappi’s Opera; Cristoforo di Messisbugo’s Banchetti e composizione di vivande, culminating in La Varenne’s Cuisinier français) will also be explored. The gastronomical and convivial scene will be studied as the locus where theater, music, and dance receive a vital impulse toward the creation of a multimedia event avant la lettre.”. April 2-3, 2009 |
